New York A 691: Authorizes public welfare officials to withhold rent from a landlord when real estate taxes for the rental property are unpaid

Bill Text

STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
691
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 9, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. MAGNARELLI -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Social Services
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to authorizing
public welfare officials to withhold rent from a landlord when real
estate taxes for the rental property are unpaid
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 143-b of the social services law, as added by chap-
2 ter 997 of the laws of 1962, subdivisions 5 and 6 as amended by chapter
3 701 of the laws of 1965, is amended to read as follows:
4 § 143-b. Avoidance of abuses in connection with rent checks. 1. When-
5 ever a recipient of public assistance and care is eligible for or enti-
6 tled to receive aid or assistance in the form of a payment for or toward
7 the rental of any housing accommodations occupied by such recipient or
8 his family, such payment may be made directly by the publicor her
9 welfare department to the landlord.
10 2. Every public welfare official shall have power to and may withhold
11 the payment of any such rent in any case where he has knowledgeor she
12 that there exists or there is outstanding any violation of law in
13 respect to the building containing the housing accommodations occupied
14 by the person entitled to such assistance which is dangerous, hazardous
15 or detrimental to life or health. A report of each such violation shall
16 be made to the appropriate public welfare department by the appropriate
17 department or agency having jurisdiction over violations.
18 2-a. Every public welfare official may withhold the payment of any
19 such rent in any case where he or she has knowledge that there exists
20 any legally uncontested outstanding real property taxes levied with
21 respect to the real property containing the housing accommodations occu-
22 pied by the person entitled to such assistance. Information relating to
23 any such properties' paid or unpaid real property taxes shall be made,
24 upon request, to the appropriate public welfare department by the appro-
25 priate department or agency having jurisdiction over such payments.
26 3. Every public welfare official shall have the power to initiate or
27 to request the recipient to initiate before the appropriate housing rent
EXPLANATION--Matter in (underscored) is new; matter in bracketsitalics
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00403-01-7

A. 691 2
1 commission any proper proceeding for the reduction of maximum rents
2 applicable to any housing accommodation occupied by a person entitled to
3 assistance in the form of a rent payment whenever such official has
4 knowledge that essential services which such person is entitled to
5 receive are not being maintained by the landlord or have been substan-
6 tially reduced by the landlord.
7 4. The public welfare department may obtain and maintain current
8 records of violations in buildings where welfare recipients reside which
9 relate to conditions which are dangerous, hazardous or detrimental to
10 life or health, and such information relating to the payment or non-pay-
11 ment of real property taxes levied upon the owner of any real property
12 containing housing accommodations occupied by a person entitled to
13 .assistance under this section
14 5. (a) It shall be a valid defense in any action or summary proceeding
15 against a welfare recipient for non-payment of rent to show existing
16 violations in the building wherein such welfare recipient resides which
17 relate to conditions which are dangerous, hazardous or detrimental to
18 life or health as the basis for non-payment. It shall also be a valid
19 defense in an action or summary proceeding against a welfare recipient
20 for non-payment of rent under this section to show that the owner of the
21 property occupied by a person entitled to assistance has legally uncon-
22 tested outstanding real property taxes connected to such property as the
23 basis for non-payment.
24 (b) In any such action or proceeding the plaintiff or landlord shall
25 not be entitled to an order or judgment awarding him possessionor her
26 of the premises or providing for removal of the tenant, or to a money
27 judgment against the tenant, on the basis of non-payment of rent for any
28 period during which there was outstanding any violation of law relating
29 to dangerous or hazardous conditions or conditions detrimental to life
30 or health, or on the basis of non-payment of rent under this section for
31 any period during which there were legally uncontested outstanding real
32 . For the purposes ofproperty taxes connected to the occupied property
33 this paragraph such violation of law shall be deemed to have been
34 removed and no longer outstanding upon the date when the condition
35 constituting a violation was actually corrected, and such le