Proposed Regulation for Short-Term Rentals in NYC: A Gleam of Hope for Tourists and Small Businesses?
Senator Golden
who sponsored the new bill
Bill S4263A-2011, sponsored by Senator Martin J. Golden, advanced to third reading in February 2012.
When a bill advances to third reading, it becomes ready for a final vote. However, a bill advancing to third reading does not guarantee that it will be voted on: it could be laid aside, or returned to committee for further study by the bill’s sponsor or it could be placed in an inactive file by the Majority Leader.
Will the Golden Bill be voted on or remain in limbo?
Recap on Bill S4263A-2011
Bill S4263A-2011 seeks to narrow the scope of the recent Short-Term Rental Ban in New York City.
The purpose of the bill is said “to provide an exemption for a specific class of good actors” who rent residential apartments on a short-term basis.
Under this proposed legislation, owners or leaseholders of a residential unit are allowed to rent for less than 30 days provided that:
(1) The unit is not a SRO (Single Room Occupancy)
(2) The unit has at least one bathroom and one kitchen
(3) The unit has smoke detectors in each room
(4) The unit carries sufficient fire, hazard and liability insurance and
(5) The unit has a valid vacation rental license.
Chicago implemented a unique vacation rental license system in 2011
Vacation Rental License Regulatory Framework
Other communities across the US and Europe have adopted a similar regulatory framework. For example, Amsterdam’s short stay accommodations have been regulated since 2009 and Chicago’s vacation rentals since January 2011.
Proposed Vacation Rental License for the City of New York
- Application Fee: $ 200 (renewable every two years).
- The license is good for one unit only.
- A license is not be required if the owner rents his unit(s) less than 15 days per year.
- Licensee must rent for at least 48 consecutive hours.
- Licensee must keep guest registration records etc.
In April 2011, we posted an article about a former version of this bill regulating vacation rentals in New York City. What version do you prefer?
A potential flaw in Bill S4263A-2011?
Please note that if the licensee operates its own website, the license registration must be posted on the website. However there appears to be no such requirement if the licensee advertises his/her property on an online rental marketplace or a classified ads website.
All would benefit from such requirement to be imposed on online rental marketplaces/classified ads websites – as it would make it harder for tourists and business travelers to be scammed (a proper license registration number would need to be posted along the advertisement) and it would further “help to eliminate the type of illegal short-term use of class A units that the 2010 law sought” (one of the bill’s stated objective).
Moreover, there is no doubt that the New York legislature might be more amenable to authorize the operation of short-term rentals in residential apartment buildings in New York City if there was a system in place ensuring that owners collect the appropriate taxes from their guests.
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What role(s), if any, should an online rental marketplace/classified ads website play in the implementation of such a system? Give us your opinion
This sounds like positive news for multi-family owners, who wish to use their apartments as vacation rentals, but it is still not certain that this bill will even come to a vote.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
I know you care about your business and your right to make optimal use of your property. So make your voice heard by writing to NY State Senators (Listed Below) and expressing your support for this amendment S4263A-2011 Vacation rental Proposal sponsored by Senator Golden. I have included a list of state senators who heard the recent amendment and voted on its contents.
GO to http://protect-vacation-rentals.com/ and educate yourself about this issue.
Yours in solidarity,
A Brooklyn Homeowner
Here’s the letter I sent:
Dear Senator,
As a NYC homeowner of a multi-family property I am writing to encourage you to support the amendment brought forth by Senator Golden, Bill S4263A-2011 seeks to narrow the scope of the recent Short-Term Rental Ban in New York City. The May 2011 law passed by Governor Patterson S6873B-2009 has ensnared good landlords in its wide-ranging prohibition without exception for the legal, safe apartments they own and operate. It is appalling that multi-family homeowners have lost the right to determine how they rent the legal apartments in their own homes, by disallowing them to rent to NYC tourists for shorter stays.
Tourists who use short-term vacation rentals do so because they refuse to pay exorbitant hotel prices. As such, the city is now losing sales tax revenue from these tourists. Further, because vacation rentals are a more economical option to hotels in NYC, this sub-set of tourists are able to stay longer in NYC to attend more shows, do more shopping and use more cabs and mass transit options.
Thank-you for your thoughtful consideration of this issue. I hope you will choose to help and support local homeowners who deserve the right to determine how to rent their legal, safe apartments.
Yours Sincerely,
A cautionary tale from Protect Vacation Rentals website:
I received a violation over the summer for “occupancy contrary to that allowed by C of O – 2-family dwelling converted to transient use”
This was for a 2-family house in Queens, based on a neighbor complaint and the inspector speaking to the tenant who indicated “he is only here for a visit of a few weeks or months” and
the inspector also claimed he saw a person arriving with luggage. The inspector admitted that there
was nothing illegal about the house in and of itself, but that the violation was based entirely on
that he believed it was being rented out on a short-term basis for a few days or weeks at a time, and that this is illegal in a 2-family house, being contrary to the C of O.
In the first place, I thought I was allowed to rent a 2-family house out short term, but in any case at the hearing I presented a lease for 6 weeks along with the argument that since the lease was for over 30 days, it could not legally even be considered transient use in the first place and the case should be dismissed…
However, I was found guilty, and now I wonder if the city can just decide whatever it wants, irrespective of the law?
I plan to appeal since it seems to me the decision was improper.
Contact info
Gov. Cuomo
http://www.governor.ny.gov
(518) 474-8390
The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224
NY State SENATORS
AYES:
golden@nysenate.gov
skelos@nysenate.gov
alesi@senate.state.ny.us
Farley@nysenate.gov
hannon@nysenate.gov
ojohnson@nysenate.gov
larkin@senate.state.ny.us
senator@senatorlibous.com
marcelli@senate.state.ny.us
maziarz@nysenate.gov
nozzolio@nysenate.gov
seward@nysenate.gov
sampson@senate.state.ny.us
dilan@nysenate.gov
montgome@senate.state.ny.us
lavalle@nysenate.gov
saland@nysenate.gov
breslin@senate.state.ny.us
parker@senate.state.ny.us
perkins@senate.state.ny.us
masmith@senate.state.ny.us
duane@nysenate.gov
hassellt@senate.state.ny.us
lkrueger@senate.state.ny.us
scousins@senate.state.ny.us
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
PHONE 311 (or 212-NEW-YORK outside NYC)
FAX (212) 312-0700
E-MAIL:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html
FULL CONTACT Info
AYES:
Martin Golden
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 409, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2730
Dean G Skelos
Albany Office
Legislative Office Building, Room 909
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-3171
skelos@nysenate.gov
James S Alesi
Albany Office
Room 512, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2015
Fax: (518) 426-6968
alesi@senate.state.ny.us
Hugh T Farley
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 711, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2181
Fax: (518) 455-2271
Farley@nysenate.gov
Kemp Hannon
Albany Office
The Capitol Room 420
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: 518-455-2200
hannon@nysenate.gov
Owen H Johnson
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 913 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-3411
ojohnson@nysenate.gov
William J Larkin
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 502, Senate Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2770
larkin@senate.state.ny.us
Tom Libous
Albany Office
429 Capitol
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2677
senator@senatorlibous.com
Carl L Marcellino
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 811, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2390
marcelli@senate.state.ny.us
George T Maziarz
Albany Office
Room 708, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2024
maziarz@nysenate.gov
Michael F Nozzollio
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 412, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2366
nozzolio@nysenate.gov
James L Seward
Albany Office
172 State Street Room 430, Capital
Albany, NY 12247
United States
seward@nysenate.gov
Phone: 518) 455-3131
John L Sampson
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 907, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2788
Fax: (518) 426-6806
sampson@senate.state.ny.us
Martin Malave Dilan
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 903, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2177
Fax: (518) 426-6947
dilan@nysenate.gov
Velmanette Montgomery
Albany Office
944 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-3451
montgome@senate.state.ny.us
Fax: (518) 426-6854
Kenneth P Lavalle
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 806, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-3121
lavalle@nysenate.gov
Stephen M Saland
Albany Office
State Street Room 504 – Capitol
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: 518-455-2411
saland@nysenate.gov
Neil D Breslin
Albany Office
172 State Street Room 413, Capitol
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2225
breslin@senate.state.ny.us
Kevin S Parker
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 604, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2580
Fax: (518) 426-6843
parker@senate.state.ny.us
Bill Perkins
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 517, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: 518-455-2441
Fax: 518-426-6809
perkins@senate.state.ny.us
Malcolm A Smith
Albany Office
181 State Street Room 808, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2701
Fax: (518) 455-2816
masmith@senate.state.ny.us
NAYS:
Tom Duane
Room 711B
Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
(518) 455-2451 Fax: (518) 426-6846
duane@nysenate.gov
Ruth Hassell-Thompson
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 707 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2061
Fax: (518) 426-6998
hassellt@senate.state.ny.us
Liz Krueger
Albany Office
172 State Street Room 905 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2297
Fax: (518) 426-6874
lkrueger@senate.state.ny.us
Andrea Stewart-Cousins
Albany Office
188 State Street Room 615, Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-2585
scousins@senate.state.ny.us
Fax: (518) 426-6811
Ayes (14): Skelos, Alesi, Farley, Hannon, Johnson, Larkin, Libous, Marcellino, Maziarz, Nozzolio, Seward, Sampson, Dilan, Montgomery
Ayes W/R (6): LaValle, Saland, Breslin, Parker, Perkins, Smith
Nays (4): Duane, Hassell-Thompson, Krueger, Stewart-Cousins
Bill S4263A-2011 Vacation rental proposal
This is heartening news. I hope the bill advances. Please write to your local state rep.