Recent blog posts have discussed sweeping changes to New York State’s regulations for rental units. These changes were recently passed by the state legislature, and signed into law by Governor Cuomo. A prior post discussed the changes regarding rent regulated units. However, many rental units, especially in Westchester County, are not subject to rent regulation. They include premises with fewer than six rental units, as well as properties in towns or cities which have not adopted the “emergency” rent regulations, which the new law has made permanent.
However, changes to the way in which landlords may rent their units are not the only significant part of the new law. There are also provisions relating to eviction procedures in New York, which will have a major effect on both landlords and tenants. As our firm represents both landlords and tenants, we are carefully studying the new law so that we can advise our clients accordingly.
While a full discussion of the every aspect of the new landlord-tenant rules is beyond the scope of this post, here are some of the “highlights” or “lowlights”, depending on your perspective and role as a landlord or tenant. The first one relates to the notice period, which is the period after the tenant has been served with an eviction petition, but before he has to appear in Court. Under the old law, the “window period” was 5-12 days, meaning at least five days, but not more than twelve days. The new law has increased the period to 10-17 days, meaning that the hearing date must be at least ten days after the eviction petition is served, but no more than seventeen days.