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NEW YORK STATE
MULTIPLE DWELLING LAW
Chapter 713 of the Laws of 1929, as amended
ARTICLE 7-A
TEMPORARY PROVISIONS
Section *260. Recovery of rent for
certain non-complying premises
restricted during emergency period.
* NB Expired 49/07/01
*261. Recovery of possession of
certain non-complying premises
restricted during emergency period.
* NB Expired 49/07/01
262. Alteration of uncompleted buildings.
*264. Conversion of certain dwellings.
* NB Expired 49/07/01
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*Sec. 260. Recovery of rent for certain non-complying
premises restricted during emergency period.
1. Legislative finding.
It is hereby declared that in cities of this state with a
population of over one million there exists an acute
shortage of dwelling accommodations available to low-income
families; that many dwellings formerly occupied by them have
been and are continuing to be vacated and demolished because
of structural inadequacy or danger, obsolescence and
dilapidation, or because owners have refused to comply with
the law, or for other reasons; that the freedom of contract
has been impaired in consequence thereof, and unjust,
unreasonable and oppressive increases in the rents of
dwelling accommodations available to such families are being
and will continue to be exacted; that world war II has
necessitated an almost complete paralysis of building
construction; that the extent of construction of decent,
safe and sanitary dwellings, conforming with the minimum
standards prescribed by law, has failed to produce a
sufficient number of dwellings for the accommodation of
families unable to pay higher rentals; that there has been a
rapid absorption of rentable vacancies in said dwellings and
a sharp increase in rentals; that such communities are
threatened with wholesale evictions; that an emergency
exists by reason of these conditions, which constitute a
menace to the health, safety, morals, welfare and comfort of
the citizens of the state, undermine the standard of living
of a large number thereof, tend to impair and impede the
enforcement of existing statutes, cause overcrowding and
congestion, foster crime, encourage the spread of vice and
disease and increase the death rate; that adequate housing
accommodations to relieve the hardships and suffering
resulting therefrom cannot be sufficiently provided, with or
without public assistance, during the period of the
emergency as herein declared; and the necessity for
legislative intervention, by the enactment of the provisions
of this section and their application until July first,
nineteen hundred forty-nine, is hereby declared as a matter
of legislative determination, and the provisions of this
section shall remain in force and effect only until such
date.
2. For the period during which any old-law tenement or any
converted dwelling shall fail to comply with the applicable
provisions of article six or seven, as the case may be, no
rent therefor or for any part thereof shall be recovered by
the owner, nor shall any action or special proceeding be
maintainable for such rent or to recover possession of such
dwelling or part thereof for non-payment of rent, except
rent at such rate as shall not exceed the lowest rent
charged therefor for any month between September thirtieth,
nineteen hundred thirty-seven, and April first, nineteen
hundred forty-three.
3. In any such action or special proceeding in which there
shall be interposed a defense that the dwelling fails to
comply with the applicable provisions of article six or
seven or that the rent demanded exceeds the lowest rent
charged for any month between September thirtieth, nineteen
hundred thirty-seven, and April first, nineteen hundred
forty-three, the burden of proof shall be upon the party
seeking to recover rent or possession.
4. A certification by the department of the results of a search
made by the department shall be admissible as presumptive
evidence of the existence or non-existence of any violation
of article six or seven as in such certificate specified.
* NB Expired 49/07/01
*Sec. 261. Recovery of possession of certain non-complying
premises restricted during emergency period.
1. Legislative finding.
The public emergency which existed at the time of the
enactment of and which was declared in chapter six hundred
seventy-five of the laws of nineteen hundred thirty-eight,
and in acts amendatory thereof, having continued and still
existing, there having been and there being an acute
shortage of such dwellings, and the intents and purposes of
such provisions having, in a great many instances, been
circumvented by landlords giving their tenants thirty days'
notice terminating their tenancy and instituting proceedings
for their removal, the necessity for legislative
intervention, by the enactment of the provisions of this
section, and their application, until July first, nineteen
hundred forty-nine, is hereby declared as a matter of
legislative determination, and the provisions of this
section shall remain in force and effect only until such
date.
2. For the period during which any old-law tenement or any
converted dwelling shall fail to comply with the applicable
provisions of article six or seven, no action or proceeding
by an owner to recover possession of such dwelling or any
part thereof from a tenant and to remove such tenant
therefrom for the reason that the tenant holds over and
continues in possession of the demised dwelling or any part
thereof after the expiration of his term without the
permission of the owner, shall be maintainable except:
a. A proceeding to recover such possession upon the ground
that the person is holding over and is objectionable,
in which case the owner shall establish to the
satisfaction of the court that the person holding over
is objectionable; or
b. A proceeding when the owner of record of the dwelling,
being a natural person, seeks in good faith to recover
possession of a room or rooms therein for the immediate
and personal occupancy by himself and his family as a
dwelling; or
c. A proceeding where the petitioner shows to the
satisfaction of the court that he desires in good faith
to recover the dwelling for the purpose of altering or
demolishing the same with the intention of providing or
constructing more dwelling units, plans for which shall
have been duly approved by the department in accordance
with the provisions of any applicable local law.
d. In pending proceedings for the recovery of such
dwelling on the grounds that the occupant holds over
after the expiration of his term, a warrant shall not
be issued unless the petitioner establishes to the
satisfaction of the court that the proceeding is one
mentioned in the exceptions enumerated in this
subdivision.
3. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to
apply to an action or proceeding by an owner to recover
possession of such dwelling or any part thereof from a
tenant and to remove such tenant therefrom for the reason
that the tenant holds over and continues in possession of
the demised dwelling or any part thereof without the
permission of the owner after a default in the payment of
the rent.
* NB Expired 49/07/01
Sec. 262. Alteration of uncompleted buildings.
The provisions of this chapter relating to multiple dwellings
erected after April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine,
shall not apply to any fireproof building structurally enclosed
but uncompleted on April first, nineteen hundred forty-five,
conforming to the provisions of the local zoning law or
resolution applicable to an apartment hotel, in effect at the
time of the approval of the original plans filed for the
construction of such building, and which building shall
thereafter be altered and completed as a class A multiple
dwelling, in accordance with plans and amendments thereto
approved by the department. Such building, if so altered and
completed on or before July first, nineteen hundred forty-eight,
may be lawfully occupied thereafter as a class A multiple
dwelling if it conforms with the provisions of section twenty-
five applicable to fireproof class A multiple dwellings occupied
as such before April eighteenth, nineteen hundred twenty-nine.
*Sec. 264. Conversion of certain dwellings.
1. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of this chapter
or of any other law, it shall be lawful until July first,
nineteen hundred forty-nine, for any owner to convert a non-
fireproof dwelling which is not of frame construction, not
more than a basement and two additional stories in height,
and not occupied by more than two families, for occupancy by
not more than three families, in accordance with the
provisions of this section, providing such dwelling was
existing on April eighth, nineteen hundred forty-six, or was
erected thereafter under plans on file with the department
on or before such date.
2. The provisions of article six of this chapter shall not
apply to conversion of dwellings under this section, except
in so far as compliance therewith is expressly required as
provided in or pursuant to this section.
3. Conversion of such dwellings under this section must be
made:
a. In full compliance with the provisions of sections one
hundred seventy-six, one hundred seventy-seven, and one
hundred eighty-eight, of subdivision two of section one
hundred eighty-nine, and of section two hundred;
b. In full compliance with the provisions of section one
hundred eighty-five, except that if a cellar ceiling is
plastered and in good repair only the area of the
ceiling over any boiler located in the cellar and for
three feet beyond need be covered with fire-retarding
material;
c. In full compliance with the provisions of section one
hundred eighty-seven unless such conversion was
completed under authority of this section before July
first, nineteen hundred forty-seven, and
d. In compliance with such additional provisions of
article six of this chapter, and no other, as may be
specifically required by, and in accordance with, rules
and regulations of the department where the conversion
is proposed to be made.
4. A plan of alteration to effect conversion of any such
dwelling under this section shall be filed with such
department and, when approved by it, shall constitute a
lawful plan for three family occupancy of such dwelling.
* NB Expired 49/07/01
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