N.Y. Real Property Actions & Proceedings Law § 715-a: Grounds and procedure for removal of commercial tenants for unlicensed cannabis retail sale

§ 715-a. Grounds and procedure for removal of commercial tenants for

unlicensed cannabis retail sale. 1. Any duly authorized enforcement

agency of the state or of a subdivision thereof, under a duty to enforce

the provisions of the penal law or of any state or local law, ordinance,

code, rule or regulation relating to buildings, or the cannabis control

board, office of cannabis management or the attorney general pursuant to

section one hundred thirty-eight-a of the cannabis law, may serve

personally upon the owner or landlord of real property authorized or

otherwise intended or advertised, in whole or part, for use to buy, sell

or otherwise provide goods or services, or for other business,

commercial, professional services or manufacturing activities, or upon

their agent, a written notice requiring the owner or landlord to make an

application for the removal of a commercial tenant so using or occupying

the same for a violation of article two hundred twenty-two of the penal

law or article six of the cannabis law involving the unlicensed sale of

cannabis or products marketed or labeled as such. If the owner or

landlord or their agent does not make such application within five days

thereafter; or, having made it, does not in good faith diligently

prosecute it, the enforcement agency giving the notice may bring a

proceeding under this article for such removal as though the petitioner

were the owner or landlord of the premises, and shall have precedence

over any similar proceeding thereafter brought by such owner or landlord

or to one theretofore brought by them and not prosecuted diligently and

in good faith. An enforcement agency authorized to bring a petition

hereunder may do so on their own initiative or upon a referral from an

agency of the state or a subdivision thereof. The person in possession

of the property, as well as any lessee or sublessee and the owner or

landlord shall be made respondents in the proceeding.

2. A court, upon a finding of such violation may, in addition to any

other order provided by law:

(a) grant a petition pursuant to this section ordering the immediate

removal of such tenant;

(b) impose and require the payment by any respondent not otherwise

subject to a civil penalty under section sixteen or one hundred

twenty-five of the cannabis law, who has been found to have knowingly

permitted such a violation, a civil penalty not exceeding five times the

amount of rent charged, owed, or paid, as the case may be, for the

duration of the violation, which may be calculated from the date the

owner or landlord respondent received notice of the violation to the

date the unlicensed activity is abated, for which a respondent shall be

required to provide sufficient proof thereof, including but not limited

to a sworn statement by a local law enforcement or other governmental

entity that the unlicensed activity has been abated; provided, however,

that in a city with a population of over one million the civil penalty

shall be fifty thousand dollars. The landlord or property owner shall

also provide a copy of any executed lease with such tenant;

(c) order the payment of reasonable attorneys fees and the costs of

the proceeding to the petitioner; and

(d) order that any such multiple respondents shall be jointly and

severally liable for any payment so ordered under this subdivision.

3. For the purposes of a proceeding under this section, an enforcement

agency of the state or of a subdivision thereof, which may commence a

proceeding under this section, may subpoena witnesses, compel their

attendance, examine them under oath before themselves or a court and

require that any books, records, documents or papers relevant or

material to the inquiry be turned over to them for inspection,

examination or audit, pursuant to the civil practice law and rules.

4. The use or occupancy of premises customarily or habitually for the

unlicensed retail sale of cannabis or products marketed or labeled as

such shall constitute an illegal trade, manufacture, or other business

for the purposes of section two hundred thirty-one of the real property

law.