New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 9 - EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT › Subtitle S - Division of Housing and Community Renewal › Chapter VII - Emergency Housing Rent Control › Subchapter B - Rent And Eviction Regulations › Part 2104 - Evictions › Section 2104.4 - Proceedings for eviction with certificate

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) No tenant shall be removed or evicted on
					 grounds other than those stated in section
					 2104.2 of this Part unless on
					 application of the landlord (or where the housing accommodations are located in
					 a structure or building owned by two or more persons not constituting a
					 co-operative corporation or association, the application shall be consented to
					 by all the co-owners) the administrator shall issue a certificate permitting
					 the landlord to pursue his remedies at law at the expiration of the waiting
					 period hereinafter specified in subdivision (b) of this section. The
					 administrator may issue an order granting a certificate if the removal or
					 eviction meets the requirements of sections
					 2104.5,
					 2104.6,
					 2104.7,
					 2104.8, or
					 2104.9 of this Part. The
					 administrator may also issue orders granting certificates in other cases if the
					 requested removal or eviction is not inconsistent with the purposes of the act
					 or this Subchapter and would not be likely to result in the circumvention or
					 evasion thereof.
(b) Certificates
					 issued pursuant to this section or sections
					 2104.5,
					 2104.6,
					 2104.7, or
					 2104.9 of this Part shall authorize
					 the landlord to commence proceedings to remove or evict the tenant at the
					 expiration of three months from the date of issuance of the certificate by the
					 administrator. Certificates issued pursuant to section
					 2104.8 of this Part, shall
					 authorize the landlord to commence proceedings to remove or evict the tenant at
					 the expiration of six months from the date of issuance of the certificate by
					 the administrator. Where the administrator finds (1) that equivalent
					 accommodations are available for rent into which the tenant can move without
					 substantial hardship or loss, or (2) that undue hardship would result to the
					 landlord, a certificate may be issued and may authorize the landlord to pursue
					 his remedies for removal or eviction of the tenant at the expiration of a
					 period shorter than such maximum waiting period.
(c) No certificate shall be used in
					 connection with any action or proceeding to remove or evict a tenant unless
					 such removal or eviction is sought for the purpose specified in the
					 certificate.
(d) In the event that
					 the landlord's intentions or circumstances so change that the premises,
					 possession of which is sought, will not be used for the purpose specified in
					 the certificate, the certificate shall thereupon be null and void. The landlord
					 shall immediately notify the local rent administrator in writing and surrender
					 the certificate for cancellation.
(e) Whenever compliance with the relocation
					 requirements of this section is directed by or required pursuant to these
					 regulations as a condition for the granting of a certificate of eviction, the
					 landlord shall provide suitable relocation for the tenant at the same or lower
					 rent in a closely proximate area, or in a new residential building if
					 constructed on the site, in which case suitable interim housing shall be
					 provided at no additional cost to the tenant; plus in addition to reasonable
					 moving expenses, payment of a $5,000 stipend, provided the tenant vacates on or
					 before the vacate date required by the final order.
(f) In the event a comparable housing
					 accommodation is offered by the owner, a tenant may file an objection with the
					 DHCR challenging the suitability of a housing accommodation offered by the
					 owner for relocation with 10 days after the owner identifies the housing
					 accommodation and makes it available for the tenant to inspect and consider the
					 suitability thereof. Within 30 days thereafter, the DHCR shall inspect the
					 housing accommodation, on notice to both parties, in order to determine whether
					 the offered housing accommodation is suitable. Such determination will be made
					 by as promptly as practicable thereafter. In the event that the DHCR determines
					 that the housing accommodation is not suitable, the tenant shall be offered
					 another housing accommodation, and shall have 10 days after it is made
					 available by the owner for the tenant's inspection to consider its suitability.
					 In the event that the DHCR determines that the housing accommodation is
					 suitable, the tenant shall have 15 days thereafter within which to accept the
					 housing accommodation. A tenant who refuses to accept relocation to any housing
					 accommodation determined by the DHCR to be suitable shall lose the right to
					 relocation by the owner, and to receive payment of moving expenses or any
					 stipend. "Suitable housing accommodations" shall mean housing accommodations
					 which are similar in size and features to the respective housing accommodations
					 now occupied by the tenant. Such housing accommodations shall be freshly
					 painted before the tenant takes occupancy and shall be provided with
					 substantially the same essential services and equipment the tenants received in
					 their prior housing accommodations. The building containing such housing
					 accommodations shall be free from violations of law recorded by the local
					 agency having jurisdiction, which constitute fire hazards or conditions
					 dangerous or detrimental to life or health, or which affect the maintenance of
					 essential services. The DHCR will consider housing accommodations proposed for
					 relocation which are not presently subject to rent regulation, provided the
					 owner submits a contractual agreement that places the tenant in a substantially
					 similar housing accommodations at no additional rent for a period of six years,
					 unless the tenant requests a shorter period in writing.
(g) Where an owner provides relocation of a
					 tenant to a suitable housing accommodation at a rent in excess of that for the
					 subject housing accommodation, in addition to the tenant's reasonable moving
					 expenses, the owner may be required to pay the tenant a stipend equal to the
					 difference in rent, at the commencement of the occupancy by the tenant of the
					 new housing accommodation, between the subject housing accommodation and the
					 housing accommodation to which the tenant is relocated, multiplied by 72
					 months, provided the tenant vacates on or before the vacate date required by
					 the final order.
(h) Wherever a
					 stipend would result in the tenant losing a subsidy or other government benefit
					 which is income dependent, the tenant may elect to waive the stipend and have
					 the owner at his or her own expense, relocate the tenant to a suitable housing
					 accommodation at the same or lower legal regulated rent in a closely proximate
					 area.
(i) In the event that the
					 tenant dies prior to the issuance by the DHCR of a final order granting the
					 owner's application, the owner shall not be required to pay such stipend to the
					 estate of the deceased tenant.
(j)
					 Where the administrator's order granting the owner's application is conditioned
					 upon the owner's compliance with specified terms and conditions, if such terms
					 and conditions have not been complied with, or if DHCR determines that the
					 owner has not proceeded in good faith, the order may be modified or
					 revoked.
(k) Noncompliance by an
					 owner with any term or condition of the administrator's order granting the
					 owner's application may result in DHCR initiating its own enforcement
					 proceeding. The DHCR shall retain jurisdiction for this purpose until all of
					 the terms and conditions in the administrator's order granting the owner's
					 application have been met and the project described in the owner's application
					 has been completed. Subsequent owners shall be bound by the terms and
					 conditions of DHCR's order. This clause shall not be deemed to eliminate any
					 remedy or claim that a tenant of the dwelling unit may otherwise have against
					 the owner nor eliminate any independent authority that DHCR may be able to
					 exercise by law or regulation.
(l)
					 An owner's failure to comply within a reasonable time with any term or
					 condition of the administrator's order granting the owner's application or an
					 owner's failure to complete the project described in the owner's application
					 may be found to be a violation of the Emergency Housing Rent Control Law and
					 the State Rent and Evictions Regulations and subject to any of the penalties
					 and remedies described therein including but not limited to revocation of the
					 administrator's order granting the owner's application and DHCR's continued
					 jurisdiction under the Emergency Housing Rent Control Law over the building or
					 any subsequent construction. Any remedies and penalties prescribed by this Code
					 shall apply to and be binding against subsequent owners.
(m) The provisions of this section shall
					 apply to all certificates issued pursuant to this Subchapter.