§ 7-108 — Deposits made by tenants of non-rent stabilized dwelling units

New York § 7-108

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law GOB: General Obligations
• Title 1: Money Deposited As Security to Be Held In Trust In Certain Cases
• Art. 7: Obligations Relating to Property Received As Security

Text

§ 7-108. Deposits made by tenants of non-rent stabilized dwelling\nunits. 1. This section shall apply to all dwelling units in residential\npremises, unless such dwelling unit is specifically referred to in\nsection 7-107 of this title.\n 1-a. Except in dwelling units subject to the city rent and\nrehabilitation law or the emergency housing rent control law, continuing\ncare retirement communities licensed pursuant to article forty-six or\nforty-six-A of the public health law, assisted living providers licensed\npursuant to article forty-six-B of the public health law, adult care\nfacilities licensed pursuant to article seven of the social services\nlaw, senior residential communities that have submitted an offering plan\nto the attorney general, or not-for-profit independent retirement\ncommunities that offer personal emergency response, housekeeping,\ntransportation and meals to their residents:\n (a) No deposit or advance shall exceed the amount of one month's rent,\nunless the deposit or advance is for a seasonal use dwelling unit as\nprovided for in subdivisions four and five of this section, or unless\nthe deposit or advance is for an owner-occupied cooperative apartment as\nprovided for in subdivision six of this section.\n (b) The entire amount of the deposit or advance shall be refundable to\nthe tenant upon the tenant's vacating of the premises except for an\namount lawfully retained for the reasonable and itemized costs due to\nnon-payment of rent, damage caused by the tenant beyond normal wear and\ntear, non-payment of utility charges payable directly to the landlord\nunder the terms of the lease or tenancy, and moving and storage of the\ntenant's belongings. The landlord may not retain any amount of the\ndeposit for costs relating to ordinary wear and tear of occupancy or\ndamage caused by a prior tenant.\n (c) After initial lease signing but before the tenant begins\noccupancy, the landlord shall offer the tenant the opportunity to\ninspect the premises with the landlord or the landlord's agent to\ndetermine the condition of the property. If the tenant requests such\ninspection, the parties shall execute a written agreement before the\ntenant begins occupancy of the unit attesting to the condition of the\nproperty and specifically noting any existing defects or damages. Upon\nthe tenant's vacating of the premises, the landlord may not retain any\namount of the deposit or advance due to any condition, defect, or damage\nnoted in such agreement. The agreement shall be admissible as evidence\nof the condition of the premises at the beginning of occupancy only in\nproceedings related to the return or amount of the security deposit.\n (d) Within a reasonable time after notification of either party's\nintention to terminate the tenancy, unless the tenant terminates the\ntenancy with less than two weeks' notice, the landlord shall notify the\ntenant in writing of the tenant's right to request an inspection before\nvacating the premises and of the tenant's right to be present at the\ninspection. If the tenant requests such an inspection, the inspection\nshall be made no earlier than two weeks and no later than one week\nbefore the end of the tenancy. The landlord shall provide at least\nforty-eight hours written notice of the date and time of the inspection.\nAfter the inspection, the landlord shall provide the tenant with an\nitemized statement specifying repairs or cleaning that are proposed to\nbe the basis of any deductions from the tenant's deposit. The tenant\nshall have the opportunity to cure any such condition before the end of\nthe tenancy. Any statement produced pursuant to this paragraph shall\nonly be admissible in proceedings related to the return or amount of the\nsecurity deposit.\n (e) Within fourteen days after the tenant has vacated the premises,\nthe landlord shall provide the tenant with an itemized statement\nindicating the basis for the amount of the deposit retained, if any, and\nshall return any remaining portion of the deposit to the tenant. If a\nlandlord fails to provide the tenant with the statement and deposit\nwithin fourteen days, the landlord shall forfeit any right to retain any\nportion of the deposit.\n (f) In any action or proceeding disputing the amount of any amount of\nthe deposit retained, the landlord shall bear the burden of proof as to\nthe reasonableness of the amount retained.\n (g) Any person who violates the provisions of this subdivision shall\nbe liable for actual damages, provided a person found to have willfully\nviolated this subdivision shall be liable for punitive damages of up to\ntwice the amount of the deposit or advance.\n 2. (a) In circumstances where any sum of money or any other thing of\nvalue deposited as security for the full performance by a tenant of the\nterms of his lease is not turned over to a successor in interest\npursuant to section 7-105 of this chapter, the grantee or assignee of\nthe leased premises shall also be liable to such tenant, upon conveyance\nof such leased premises, for the repayment of any such security deposit,\nplus accrued interest, as to which such grantee or assignee has actual\nknowledge.\n (b) For purposes of this section, a grantee or assignee of the leased\npremises shall be deemed to have actual knowledge of any security\ndeposit which is (i) deposited at any time during the six months\nimmediately prior to closing or other transfer of title in any banking\norganization pursuant to subdivision two-a of section 7-103 of this\nchapter, or (ii) acknowledged in any lease in effect at the time of\nclosing or other transfer of title, or (iii) supported by documentary\nevidence provided by the tenant or lessee as set forth in paragraph (c)\nof this subdivision.\n (c) With respect to any leased premises for which there is no record\nof security deposit pursuant to subparagraph (i) or (ii) of paragraph\n(b) of this subdivision, the grantee or assignee of the leased premises\nshall be obligated to notify the tenant thereof in writing no later than\nthirty days following the closing or other transfer of title to the fact\nthat there is no record of a security deposit for said leased premises\nand that unless the tenant within thirty days after receiving notice\nprovides him or it with documentary evidence of deposit, the tenant\nshall have no further recourse against him or it for said security\ndeposit. For purposes of this subdivision, "documentary evidence" shall\nbe limited to any cancelled check drawn to the order of, a receipt from,\nor a lease signed by any predecessor in interest, if such predecessor's\ninterest in the leased premises existed on or after the effective date\nof this section. Except as otherwise provided by subparagraphs (i) and\n(ii) of paragraph (b) of this subdivision the grantee or assignee of the\nleased premises shall not be charged with actual knowledge of the\nsecurity deposit where the tenant fails within the thirty-day period to\nprovide said documentary evidence. Where the grantee or assignee of the\nleased premises fails to notify the tenant as specified in this\nparagraph within thirty days following the closing or other transfer of\ntitle, the tenant shall be entitled to produce documentary evidence at\nany time.\n (d) The grantee or assignee of the leased premises shall have the\nright to demand that the grantor or assignor thereof establish an escrow\naccount equal to one month's rent for any leased premises for which\nthere is no record of a security deposit pursuant to paragraph (b) of\nthis subdivision to be used for the purpose of holding harmless the\ngrantee or assignee in any case where, at a date subsequent to the\nclosing or other transfer of title, the tenant gives notice pursuant to\nparagraph (c) of this subdivision.\n (e) The liability of a receiver for payment of any security deposit\nplus accrued interest pursuant to this subdivision shall be limited to\nthe amount of such deposit actually turned over to him or it pursuant to\nsubdivision one of section 7-105 of this chapter and to the operating\nincome in excess of expenses generated during his or its period of\nreceivership.\n 3. Any agreement by a lessee or tenant of a dwelling waiving or\nmodifying his rights as set forth in this section shall be absolutely\nvoid.\n 4. A dwelling unit shall qualify as a seasonal use dwelling unit for\nthe purpose of paragraph (a) of subdivision one-a of this section if it\nmeets all of the following conditions:\n (a) The lease expressly provides that: (i) the dwelling unit is\nregistered as a seasonal use dwelling unit, indicating the local or\ncounty government agency with which it is registered; (ii) the occupancy\nof the tenant is only for seasonal use not to exceed one hundred twenty\ndays or a shorter period provided for in the lease; and (iii) such\ntenant has a primary residence to return to, the address of which is\nexpressly provided in the lease.\n (b) Such dwelling unit is registered with the appropriate local\ngovernment or county registry as a seasonal use dwelling as provided for\nin subdivision five of this section.\n (c) Such dwelling unit is not rented as a seasonal use dwelling unit\nfor more than one hundred twenty days during each calendar year.\n 5. In order for a dwelling unit to qualify as a seasonal use dwelling\nunit for the purpose of paragraph (a) of subdivision one-a of this\nsection, the local government with jurisdiction for building\nadministration over such unit or the county in which such unit is\nlocated shall have adopted a seasonal use dwelling unit registry and\nsuch unit shall be registered by filing a copy of the seasonal use lease\nand such additional information as the local government or county that\nadministers such registry may require. Such local government or county\nshall revoke the seasonal use dwelling unit registration of any dwelling\nunit that does not adhere to the conditions provided for in subdivision\nfour of this section.\n 6. A dwelling unit shall qualify as an owner-occupied cooperative\napartment for the purpose of paragraph (a) of subdivision one-a of this\nsection if it meets all of the following conditions:\n (a) the tenant is the dwelling unit owner, purchaser or shareholder of\nsuch a cooperative housing corporation;\n (b) such tenant has or will have after purchase exclusive occupancy of\nsuch dwelling unit individually and with the permitted occupants\npursuant to a proprietary lease or occupancy agreement and established\nand delimited rights under such lease or agreement; and\n (c) such dwelling unit is not subject to the provisions of article\ntwo, article four, article five, or article eleven of the private\nhousing finance law. For the purposes of this paragraph, "deposit or\nadvance", as used in paragraph (a) of subdivision one-a of this section,\nshall not include any payments or advances that are part of the purchase\nprice of the unit or shares.\n