PART 2525 -- PROHIBITIONS
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section 2525.1. General prohibitions.
2525.2. Evasion
2525.3. Conditional rental.
2525.4. Security deposits.
2525.5. Harassment.
2525.6. Subletting; assignment.
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Sec. 2525.1. GENERAL PROHIBITIONS.
It shall be unlawful, regardless of any contract, lease or other
obligation heretofore or hereafter entered into, for any person
to demand or receive any rent for any housing accommodation in
excess of the legal regulated rent, or otherwise to do or omit to
do any act, in violation of any regulation, order or requirement
under the RSL or this Code, or to offer, solicit, attempt or
agree to do any of the foregoing. In addition to the definition
contained in section 2520.6(c) of this Title, the term rent, as
herein before defined, shall also include the payment by a tenant
of a fee or rental commission to an owner or to any person or
real estate broker where such person or real estate broker is an
agent or employee of the owner employed by the owner in
connection with the operation or management of the building in
which the housing accommodation is located, or where the owner or
his or her employee refers the tenant to such person or such real
estate broker employed by the owner in connection with the
operation or management of the building, for the purpose of
renting the housing accommodation, or where there is common
ownership, directly or indirectly, or a financial interest
between the owner and such person or real estate broker.
Sec. 2525.2. EVASION.
(a) The legal regulated rents and other requirements provided in
this Code shall not be evaded, either directly or
indirectly, in connection with the renting or leasing or the
transfer of a lease for housing accommodations by requiring
the tenant to pay, or obligate himself or herself for
membership or other fees, or by modification of the
practices relating to payment of commissions or other
charges, or by modification of the services furnished or
required to be furnished with the housing accommodations, or
otherwise.
(b) (1) Upon the receipt of rent in the form of cash or
any instrument other than the personal check of the
tenant, it shall be the duty of the owner to provide
the tenant with a written receipt containing the
following:
(i) the date;
(ii) the amount;
(iii) the identity of the premises and period for
which paid; and
(iv) the signature and title of the person receiving
the rent.
(2) Where a tenant, in writing, requests that an owner
provide a receipt for rent paid by personal check, it
shall be the duty of the owner to provide the tenant
with the receipt described in paragraph (1) of this
subdivision for each such request made in writing. (3)
The receipt provided pursuant to this subdivision shall
state the name and New York City address of the
managing agent or designee thereof, as required by
section 27-2105 of the Administrative Code of the City
of New York. A failure to comply with the provisions of
this subdivision shall constitute an evasionary
practice.
Sec. 2525.3. CONDITIONAL RENTAL.
(a) No owner or other person shall require a tenant or
prospective tenant to purchase or lease, or agree to
purchase or lease, furniture or any other personal property,
including but not limited to shares to an apartment, prior
to the acceptance for filing by the Attorney General of a
plan of cooperative conversion, as a condition of renting
housing accommodations.
(b) No owner or other person shall require a tenant, prospective
tenant or a prospective permanent tenant to represent or
agree as a condition of renting a housing accommodation that
the housing accommodation shall not be used as the tenant's
or prospective tenant's primary residence, or the
prospective permanent tenant's principal residence.
(c) No owner or other person shall require a tenant or
prospective tenant to sign a lease or other rental agreement
in the name of a corporation or for professional or
commercial use as a condition of renting a housing
accommodation when the housing accommodation is to be used
as the primary residence of the prospective tenant for
residential purposes.
(d) No owner or other person shall engage in any practice,
including but not limited to illusory or collusive rental
practices which deprive a tenant in possession of his or her
rights under this Code.
(e) The term "other person" as used in this section shall
include an agent, or any other employee of an owner, or any
other entity, acting with or without the authority of the
owner.
Sec. 2525.4. SECURITY DEPOSITS.
Regardless of any contract, agreement, lease or other obligation
heretofore or hereafter entered into, no owner, in addition to
the authorized collection of rent, shall demand, receive or
retain a security deposit or advance payment for or in connection
with the use or occupancy of a housing accommodation which
exceeds the rent for one month; provided, however, that where a
greater security deposit was paid by the tenant in continuous
occupancy since the date the housing accommodation became subject
to the RSL, such deposit may continue in effect during the term
of such lease and any renewals thereof with the same tenant. Such
security deposit shall be subject to the following conditions:
(a) the security deposit shall be deposited in an interest-
bearing account in a banking organization in New York State;
(b) the person depositing such security money shall be entitled
to receive, as administrative expenses, a sum equivalent to
one percent per annum upon the security money so deposited;
(c) at the tenant's option, the balance of the interest paid by
the banking organization shall be applied for the rental of
the housing accommodation, or held in trust until repaid, or
annually paid to the tenant; and
(d) the owner otherwise complies with the provisions of article
7 of the General Obligations Law.
Sec. 2525.5. HARASSMENT.
It shall be unlawful for any owner or any person acting on his or
her behalf, directly or indirectly, to engage in any course of
conduct (including but not limited to interruption or
discontinuance of required services, or unwarranted or base less
court proceedings) which interferes with, or disturbs, or is
intended to interfere with or disturb, the privacy, comfort,
peace, repose or quiet enjoyment of the tenant in his or her use
or occupancy of the housing accommodation, or is intended to
cause the tenant to vacate such housing accommodation or waive
any right afforded under this Code.
Sec. 2525.6. SUBLETTING; ASSIGNMENT.
(a) Housing accommodations subject to this Code rented by a
tenant pursuant to an existing lease may be sublet in
accordance with the provisions, and subject to the
limitations, of section 226-b of the Real Property Law,
provided that the additional provisions of this section are
complied with and provided further that the tenant can
establish that at all times he or she has maintained the
housing accommodation as his or her primary residence and
intends to occupy it as such at the expiration of the
sublease.
(b) The rental charged to the subtenant by the tenant shall not
exceed the legal regulated rent plus no more than a 10-
percent surcharge payable to the tenant if the housing
accommodation is sublet fully furnished. Where a tenant
violates the provisions of this subdivision, the subtenant
shall be entitled to treble damages.
(c) The tenant may not sublet a housing accommodation for more
than a total of two years, including the term of the
proposed sublease, out of the four-year period preceding the
termination date of the proposed sublease. The term of
proposed sublease may, if lawful under this section, extend
beyond the term of the tenant's lease, and an owner may not
refuse consent to a sublease solely because it extends
beyond such term. A sublease which so extends shall be
subject to the tenant's right to a renewal lease.
(d) The tenant, rather than the subtenant, retains:
(1) the right to a renewal lease, whether or not the term
of the sublease extends beyond the term of the tenant's
lease; and
(2) the rights and status of a tenant in occupancy with
respect to conversion to condominium or cooperative
ownership.
(e) Upon the consent of the owner to a sublet or an assignment
of any lease, the legal regulated rent payable to the owner
effective upon the date of subletting or assignment may be
increased by the vacancy allowance, if any, provided in the
Rent Guidelines Board Order in effect at the time of the
commencement date of the lease, provided the lease is a
renewal lease. Such increase in the case of an assignment
shall remain part of the legal regulated rent for any
subsequent renewal lease; however, in the case of a
subletting, upon termination of the sublease, the legal
regulated rent shall revert to the legal regulated rent
without the sublet vacancy allowance.
(f) An owner may terminate the tenancy of a tenant who sublets
contrary to the terms of this section, or assigns without
written consent of the owner, but no action or proceeding to
terminate tenancy based upon the nonprimary residence of a
tenant may be commenced prior to the expiration date of his
or her lease.
(g) (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 226-b of
the Real Property Law, a not-for-profit hospital shall
have the right to sublet any housing accommodation
leased by it to its affiliated personnel without
requiring the owner's consent to any such sublease and
without being bound by the provisions of subdivisions
(a), (c), (e) and (f) of this section. For the purposes
of this section, where a housing accommodation is
rented to a not-for-profit hospital for residential
use, affiliated subtenants authorized to use such
accommodations by such hospital shall be deemed to be
tenants.
(2) Whenever a not-for-profit hospital executes a renewal
lease for a housing accommodation, the legal regulated
rent shall be increased by a sum equal to 15 percent of
the previous lease rental for such housing
accommodation, hereinafter referred to as a vacancy
surcharge, unless the owner shall have received within
the seven-year period prior to the commencement date of
such renewal lease any vacancy increases or vacancy
surcharges allocable to the said housing accommodation.
In the event the owner shall have received any such
vacancy increases or vacancy surcharges during such
seven-year period, the vacancy surcharge shall be
reduced by the amount received by any such vacancy
increase or vacancy surcharges.
(h) For housing accommodations which are first made subject to
this Code solely by reason of article 7-C of the MDL,
nothing herein shall be deemed to prevent or limit the
rights of tenants to sell improvements pursuant to MDL
section 286(6).