NY A04047

Applies the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (HSTPA) rent calculation standards prospectively to all rent-stabilized apartments from July 1, 2019 forward, even in cases where pre-HSTPA rents were previously established by courts or administrative agencies.

Establishes a statutory definition of fraud for rent regulation purposes, including material breaches of duties to disclose truthful rent and regulatory status information, and presumes fraud for unlawful apartment deregulation or failure to register J-51 or 421-a tax benefit buildings as rent-stabilized since October 1, 2011.

For pre-HSTPA rents (before June 14, 2019), permits use of the four-year lookback rule with a fraud exception, and requires unlawfully deregulated apartments to be re-rented using the average of comparable stabilized units unless fraud is established.

Codifies pre-HSTPA law on rent record destruction, presuming registration statements reliable if records were lawfully destroyed prior to June 15, 2019, but requiring use of the default rent calculation formula when owners improperly destroyed relevant records.

Allows discovery of evidence reasonably necessary to establish legal rent and prohibits destruction of records needed to determine apartment regulatory status, presence of fraud, willfulness, item useful life, tenancy duration, or compliance with other laws.