N.Y. Emergency Tenant Protection Act 576/74 § 10-a: Right to sublease

§ 10-a. Right to sublease. Units subject to this law may be sublet

pursuant to section two hundred twenty-six-b of the real property law

provided that (a) the rental charged to the subtenant does not exceed

the legal regulated rent plus a ten percent surcharge payable to the

tenant if the unit sublet was furnished with the tenant's furniture; (b)

the tenant can establish that at all times he has maintained the unit as

his primary residence and intends to occupy it as such at the expiration

of the sublease; (c) an owner may terminate the tenancy of a tenant who

sublets or assigns contrary to the terms of this section but no action

or proceeding based on the non-primary residence of a tenant may be

commenced prior to the expiration date of his lease; (d) where an

apartment is sublet the prime tenant shall retain the right to a renewal

lease and the rights and status of a tenant in occupancy as they relate

to conversion to condominium or cooperative ownership; (e) where a

tenant violates the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section the

subtenant shall be entitled to damages of three times the overcharge and

may also be awarded attorneys fees and interest from the date of the

overcharge at the rate of interest payable on a judgment pursuant to

section five thousand four of the civil practice law and rules; (f) the

tenant may not sublet the unit for more than a total of two years,

including the term of the proposed sublease, out of the four-year period

preceding the termination date of the proposed sublease. The provisions

of this subdivision (f) shall only apply to subleases commencing on and

after July first, nineteen hundred eighty-three; (g) for the purposes of

this section only, the term of the proposed sublease may extend beyond

the term of the tenant's lease. In such event, such sublease shall be

subject to the tenant's right to a renewal lease. The subtenant shall

have no right to a renewal lease. It shall be unreasonable for an owner

to refuse to consent to a sublease solely because such sublease extends

beyond the tenant's lease; and (h) notwithstanding the provisions of

section two hundred twenty-six-b of the real property law, a

not-for-profit hospital shall have the right to sublet any housing

accommodation leased by it to its affiliated personnel without requiring

the landlord's consent to any such sublease and without being bound by

the provisions of subdivisions (b), (c) and (f) of this section.

Commencing with the effective date of this subdivision, whenever a

not-for-profit hospital executes a renewal lease for a housing

accommodation, the legal regulated rent shall be increased by a sum

equal to fifteen percent of the previous lease rental for such housing

accommodation, hereinafter referred to as a vacancy surcharge, unless

the landlord shall have received within the seven year period prior to

the commencement date of such renewal lease any vacancy increases or

vacancy surcharges allocable to the said housing accommodation. In the

event the landlord shall have received any such vacancy increases or

vacancy surcharges during such seven year period, the vacancy surcharge

shall be reduced by the amount received by any such vacancy increase or

vacancy surcharges.