New York State Senate Approves Tenant Protection Act

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Housing Justice--Tenant Protection Act- New York

The New York State Senate approved the Tenant Protection Act of 2019, which will hold unscrupulous landlords criminally accountable for harassing renters.

Last month, the New York State Assembly already passed a version of the legislation, which is now heading to the office of Governor Andrew Cuomo for signature.

Proving a landlord’s criminal culpability is difficult under existing law

In 2017, then Attorney General Eric Schneiderman introduced the Tenant Protection Act as a program bill. State Sen. Liz Krueger and Assembly member Joseph Lentol sponsored it.

At the time, Schneiderman noted that the states existing law were inadequate to protect tenants from greedy landlords. It is difficult for prosecutors to criminally convict a landlord of harassment of a rent regulated tenant under the existing law. Prosecutors must prove that a tenant sustained a physical injury due to a landlord’s harassment.

Based on data from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, his office found no single landlord has been convicted of the crime of harassment of a rent regulated tenant over the past two decades. He concluded that it is necessary to amend the law to give prosecutors the right tools to protect tenants from dangerous tactics by landlords.