Tenants' Rights & Foreclosures in NYS
Although the lion's share -- more than half -- of all foreclosures during the Great Recession occurred in California, Florida, Arizona and Illinois in 2009, according Reuters news service, New York State has hardly gone untouched. During the first three quarters of 2009 alone, nearly 60,000 foreclosures occurred in New York State. New York tenants subject to foreclosure of their rented homes, however, have several federal and state laws to help them in this crisis.
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Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act
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In May of 2009, the President signed the national Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act. This law requires lenders to honor the existing leases of foreclosed rental property and requires them to provide tenants a minimum of 90 days notice before commencing eviction actions in cases in which leases are month-to-month or for fixed terms that expire in less than 90 days. Before this law was passed, leases did not survive a foreclosure and only 30 days notice was required to evict tenants.
New York Rent Control Rights
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According to The New York Times, 51 municipalities in New York State, including New York City, Albany and Buffalo, have rent control laws. These are local controls that limit rent increases. Rent control invariably incorporates a "just cause" eviction requirement that prevents landlords from evicting tenants to sidestep the rent limits. The just cause requirement prohibits evictions that are outside a narrowly defined list focused around a tenant's failure to pay rent or otherwise live up to his contractual obligations. Some just cause definitions include exceptions for owners or their families to move in. None include foreclosure as a just cause.
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New York Senate Bill 66007
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At the same time the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act was winding its way through Congress, New York State Senate Bill 66007 was under consideration by the New York State legislature. Passed in November of 2009, it mirrors the notice requirement and lease preservation of the federal law and provides three other important elements. It requires lenders to provide notice of the foreclosure to tenants, it requires lenders to maintain the property in good condition and it requires lenders to take additional steps to prevent foreclosures in owner-occupied homes. The latter requirement aids tenants in properties in which the lender also resides by either preventing foreclosure altogether or providing more time before the foreclosure takes place.
New York RPAPL 1307
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New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law 1307, passed in December of 2009, strengthens the maintenance provisions of NY Senate Bill 66007. It requires foreclosing lenders to maintain a property during a foreclosure and before the change of title, if the borrower has abandoned the property. It allows cities and tenants to recover costs required to maintain the building themselves if they are not maintained by the owner or foreclosing lenders.
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References
- Reuters: US 2009 Foreclosure Shatter Record Despite Aid
- nysenate.gov: Senator Klein Joins Governor Patterson in Signing into Law Landmark Foreclosure Legislation
- federalreserve.gov: Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure
- nytimes.com: Rent Stabilization and Rent Control
- lexisnexis.com: New Foreclosure Law in New York
- Photo Credit new-york city image by Pierre-Emmanue Bayart from Fotolia.com
