Pam Harris/Marty Golden’s Bill Signed – Illegal Conversions
Pam Harris and Marty Golden’s bill was signed by Governor Cuomo. See here
The bill towards illegal conversions: Requires an owner of real property to provide notice to tenants of a residential lease as to whether a certificate of occupancy, if such certificate is required by law, is currently valid for the dwelling subject to the lease.
It’s not a very detailed. The bill wasn’t word specifically enough so it’s easy for a landlord to get around: “This bill would protect tenants by requiring landlords to disclose whether a certificate of occupancy is on file, if the building is required to have one, for the property being rented and that it is valid. Alternatively, landlords could provide a copy of the certificate of occupancy to the tenants.”
WHY DIDN’T THE BILL GO FURTHER to cover tenants and penalize owners? Harris a new Assemblywoman, and may not know how to write a bill well yet, but Senator Golden is a seasoned veteran and should be able to write a bill well by now.
Here’s the problems with Harris’/Golden’s Bill:
- When you buy a new home, you have to sign a paper at closing that there are smoke alarms in the house. Will new renters sign a paper that they have received the Certificate of Occupancy and is that paper recorded or scanned anywhere? No.
- Immigrants, those who don’t speak English as a first language and first time or young renters aren’t going to know what to look for on a Certificate of Occupancy. Here’s someone who has the certificate and is questioning an illegal basement. And that’s someone who has a computer/knows how to access the certificate and ask for help.
- There are no penalties listed for not providing the Certificate of Occupancy. What happens to the owner when he doesn’t present a COO or presents a fraudulent one? Tenants should be able to recover relocation costs when a landlord fails to provide a valid certificate of occupancy without going to court. Being made whole should be immediate, especially if the tenants are taken out of the home by a sheriff.
To me, this is just a bill from some politicians who want to associate their name with home conversions. It sounds good if they made a law against home conversions, even if the law doesn’t do much. Further, we will see the press releases from Golden’s and Harris’ offices filling our papers with nonsense about their less than adequate bill.
If you are unfamiliar with a bill that Marty Golden has submitted for his buddies looks like – see here This one is to give a 95% tax break to someone who is donating to a private school. Since that bill didn’t fly, Golden and friends submitted a similar bill in January 2017. He’s been trying to push this type of bill for years!
Hugs,
marlene
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