N.Y. Multiple Dwelling Law § 301: Certificate of compliance or occupancy

§ 301. Certificate of compliance or occupancy. 1. No multiple dwelling

shall be occupied in whole or in part until the issuance of a

certificate by the department that said dwelling conforms in all

respects to the requirements of this chapter, to the building code and

rules and to all other applicable law, except that no such certificate

shall be required in the case of:

a. Any class B multiple dwelling existing on April eighteenth,

nineteen hundred twenty-nine, for which a certificate of occupancy was

not required before such date and in which no changes or alterations

have been made except in compliance with this chapter, and

b. Any old-law tenement, or any class A multiple dwelling erected

after April twelfth, nineteen hundred one, which was occupied for two

years immediately before January first, nineteen hundred nine, and in

which no changes or alterations have been made except in compliance with

the tenement house law or this chapter, or wherein:

(1) two or more apartments are combined creating larger residential

units, and

(2) the total legal number of families within the building is being

decreased, and

(3) the bulk of the buildings is not being increased

These exceptions shall not be deemed to relieve any owner from the

obligation to make every alteration required in any old-law tenement or

other multiple dwelling in compliance with the applicable provisions of

this chapter.

2. Except as above provided, no dwelling constructed as or altered or

converted into a multiple dwelling after April eighteenth, nineteen

hundred twenty-nine, shall be occupied in whole or in part until the

issuance of a certificate of compliance or occupancy.

3. Such certificate shall be issued within ten days after written

application therefor if the dwelling shall be entitled thereto. The

department shall, on request of the owner or of his certified agent,

issue a certificate of compliance or occupancy for any existing multiple

dwelling not requiring such certificate, provided that, after an

inspection by the department, no violations are found against such

dwelling.

4. The head of the department may, on the request of the owner or his

certified agent, issue a temporary certificate of compliance or

occupancy for a multiple dwelling or a section or a part thereof for a

period of ninety days or less, provided that such certificate shall bear

the endorsement that the dwelling has been inspected by the department

and complies with all the requirements of this chapter, and that such

temporary occupancy will not jeopardize life, health or property. Such

temporary certificate may be renewed at the discretion of the head of

the department for similar periods but shall not extend, together with

such renewals, beyond a total period of two years from the date of its

original issuance.

5. A certificate, a record in the department, or a statement signed by

the head of the department that a certificate has been issued, may be

relied upon by every person who in good faith purchases a multiple

dwelling or who in good faith lends money upon the security of a

mortgage covering such a dwelling. Whenever any person has so relied

upon such a certificate, no claim that such dwelling had not, prior to

the issuance of such certificate, conformed in all respects to the

provisions of this chapter shall be made against such person or against

the interest of such person in a multiple dwelling to which such a

certificate applies or concerning which such a statement has been

issued.

6. Notwithstanding any general or local law to the contrary, a

certificate issued for any multiple dwelling organized pursuant to the

provisions of article nine-B of the real property law, shall be deemed

issued for each dwelling unit contained within such multiple dwelling in

full compliance with the requirements of this section.

7. a. Any certificate by the department authorizing occupancy of a

dwelling as a Class B hotel shall also authorize occupancy of units in

such dwelling for permanent residence purposes notwithstanding any

provision of this chapter or of any state law, local law, ordinance,

resolution or regulation that would otherwise prohibit such occupancy,

require a change or alteration to the dwelling, or require a new or

amended certificate, provided that: (1) such occupancy for permanent

residence purposes shall be subject to the approval of the local housing

agency in its discretion; (2) a portion of such dwelling shall be

located within a district that under the local zoning regulations or

ordinances permits residential uses or within four hundred feet of such

a district, and such dwelling shall not be located in an industrial

business zone established pursuant to chapter six-D of title twenty-two

of the administrative code of the city of New York; (3) in the case of a

property at which any hotel workers are represented by a collective

bargaining representative, prior to the proposed conversion of such

property to occupancy for permanent residence purposes, the collective

bargaining representative shall be notified in writing of the proposed

conversion, and the property owner shall certify prior to the local

housing agency approving such occupancy that the collective bargaining

representative has mutually agreed in a separate writing with the

property owner to undertake the specific conversion described in the

written notice; and (4) such dwelling shall meet the conditions in

paragraph b of this subdivision. Alterations to the configuration of any

such units shall be permitted and shall comply with any applicable

requirements of any state law, local law, ordinance, resolution or

regulation relating to Class B hotels. If occupancy for permanent

residence purposes is authorized under the provisions of this

subdivision within a district where the local zoning regulations or

ordinances would not otherwise permit such use, the residential tenants

shall be notified of the district's zoning.

b. Occupancy of units in a dwelling shall not be authorized under the

provisions of paragraph a of this subdivision unless such units are (1)

financed by the state pursuant to and in compliance with the provisions

of article thirty-one of the private housing finance law; or (2)

purchased, acquired, or financed by a local housing agency, for the

purpose of creating supportive and/or affordable housing to be operated

by an appropriate nonprofit organization pursuant to a regulatory

agreement or contract with such local agency for low-income households

or people experiencing homelessness immediately prior to entering such

housing, where tenants shall earn no more than sixty percent of the area

median income and all units are rent stabilized and subject to permanent

affordability restrictions. For purposes of this paragraph, "appropriate

nonprofit organization", "affordable housing", "experiencing

homelessness", "rent stabilized", and "permanent affordability

restrictions" shall have the same meaning as defined in article

thirty-one of the private housing finance law.