Section 4 - Establishment of rent guidelines boards; dutiesa. In each county wherein any city having a population of less than one million or any town or village has determined the existence of an emergency pursuant to section three of this act, there shall be created a rent guidelines board to consist of nine members appointed by the commissioner of housing and community renewal upon recommendation of the county legislature , except that a rent guidelines board created subsequent to the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand nineteen that amended this section shall consist of nine members appointed by the commissioner of housing and community renewal upon recommendations of the local legislative body of each city having a population of less than one million or town or village which has determined the existence of an emergency pursuant to section three of this act. Such recommendation shall be made within thirty days after the first local declaration of an emergency in such county; two such members shall be representative of tenants, two shall be representative of owners of property, and five shall be public members each of whom shall have had at least five years experience in either finance, economics or housing. One public member shall be designated by the commissioner to serve as chairman and shall hold no other public office. No member, officer or employee of any municipal rent regulation agency or the state division of housing and community renewal and no person who owns or manages real estate covered by this law or who is an officer of any owner or tenant organization shall serve on a rent guidelines board. One public member, one member representative of tenants and one member representative of owners shall serve for a term ending two years from January first next succeeding the date of their appointment; one public member, one member representative of tenants and one member representative of owners shall serve for terms ending three years from the January first next succeeding the date of their appointment and three public members shall serve for terms ending four years from January first next succeeding the dates of their appointment. Thereafter, all members shall serve for terms of four years each. Members shall continue in office until their successors have been appointed and qualified. The commissioner shall fill any vacancy which may occur by reason of death, resignation or otherwise in a manner consistent with the original appointment. A member may be removed by the commissioner for cause, but not without an opportunity to be heard in person or by counsel, in his defense, upon not less than ten days notice. Compensation for the members of the board shall be at the rate of one hundred dollars per day, for no more than twenty days a year, except that the chairman shall be compensated at the rate of one hundred twenty-five dollars a day for no more than thirty days a year. The board shall be provided staff assistance by the division of housing and community renewal. The compensation of such members and the costs of staff assistance shall be paid by the division of housing and community renewal which shall be reimbursed in the manner prescribed in section four of this act. The local legislative body of each city having a population of less than one million and each town and village in which an emergency has been determined to exist as herein provided shall be authorized to designate one person who shall be representative of tenants and one person who shall be representative of owners of property to serve at its pleasure and without compensation to advise and assist the county rent guidelines board in matters affecting the adjustment of rents for housing accommodations in such city, town or village as the case may be.a-1. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision a of this section to the contrary, in each county that became subject to this act pursuant to the chapter of the laws of two thousand nineteen that amended this section, the commissioner shall reconstitute the existing rent guidelines board subsequent to any initial local declaration of emergency within such county for the purpose of ensuring representation of all cities having a population of less than one million and all towns and villages within such county having determined the existence of an emergency in accordance with this act are represented, pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by the division of housing and community renewal.b.A county rent guidelines board shall establish annual guidelines for rent adjustments which, at its sole discretion may be varied and different for and within the several zones and jurisdictions of the board, and in determining whether rents for housing accommodations as to which an emergency has been declared pursuant to this act shall be adjusted, shall consider among other things (1) the economic condition of the residential real estate industry in the affected area including such factors as the prevailing and projected (i) real estate taxes and sewer and water rates, (ii) gross operating maintenance costs (including insurance rates, governmental fees, cost of fuel and labor costs), (iii) costs and availability of financing (including effective rates of interest), (iv) over-all supply of housing accommodations and over-all vacancy rates, (2) relevant data from the current and projected cost of living indices for the affected area, (3) such other data as may be made available to it. As soon as practicable after its creation and thereafter not later than July first of each year, a rent guidelines board shall file with the state division of housing and community renewal its findings for the preceding calendar year, and shall accompany such findings with a statement of the maximum rate or rates of rent adjustment, if any, for one or more classes of accommodation subject to this act, authorized for leases or other rental agreements commencing during the next succeeding twelve months. The standards for rent adjustments may be applicable for the entire county or may be varied according to such zones or jurisdictions within such county as the board finds necessary to achieve the purposes of this subdivision. A rent guidelines board shall not establish annual guidelines for rent adjustments based on the current rental cost of a unit or on the amount of time that has elapsed since another rent increase was authorized pursuant to this chapter. The standards for rent adjustments established annually shall be effective for leases commencing on October first of each year and during the next succeeding twelve months whether or not the board has filed its findings and statement of the maximum rate or rates of rent adjustment by July first of each year. If such lease is entered into before such filing by the board, it may provide for the rent to be adjusted by the rates then in effect, subject to change by the applicable rates of rent adjustment when filed, such change to be effective as of the date of the commencement of the lease. Said lease must provide that, if the new rates of rent adjustment differ for leases of different terms, the tenant has the option of changing the original lease term to any other term for which a rate of rent adjustment is set by the board, with the rental to be adjusted accordingly.
Where a city, town or village shall act to determine the existence of public emergency pursuant to section three of this act subsequent to the establishment of annual guidelines for rent adjustments of the accommodations subject to this act, the rent guidelines board as soon as practicable thereafter shall file its findings and rates of rent adjustment for leases or other rental agreements for the housing accommodations in such a city, town or village, which rates shall be effective for leases or other rental agreements commencing on or after the effective date of the determination.
c.In a city having a population of one million or more, the rent guidelines board shall be the rent guidelines board established pursuant to the New York city rent stabilization law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine as amemded, and such board shall have the powers granted pursuant to the New York city rent stabilization law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine as amended.d.Maximum rates of rent adjustment shall not be established more than once annually for any housing accommodation within a board's jurisdiction. Once established, no such rate shall, within the one-year period, be adjusted by any surcharge, supplementary adjustment or other modification.e. Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, the adjustment for vacancy leases covered by the provisions of this act shall be determined exclusively pursuant to section ten of this act. Rent guidelines boards shall no longer promulgate adjustments for vacancy leases.N.Y. Emergency Tenant Protection Act Law § 4
Amended by New York Laws 2019, ch. 39, Secs. Q-3, Q-2 eff. 6/24/2019.Amended by New York Laws 2019, ch. 36, Secs. G-5, C-3, C-2 eff. 6/14/2019.