Loft Law Amendment (also referred to as Expanded Loft Law) is a

New York law Law of New York may refer to: *Law of New York (state) *New York City Administrative Code *New York City Charter The New York City Charter is the municipal charter of New York City. As part of the 1898 consolidation of New York City, the New Yo ...

that created a new

window period In medicine, the window period for a test designed to detect a specific disease (particularly infectious disease) is the time between first infection and when the test can reliably detect that infection. In antibody-based testing, the window period ...

for recognition of

loft A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large ...

tenants A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant has rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a lea ...

that previously did not qualify under the original

1982 Loft Law Article 7-C of the New York Multiple Dwelling Law, commonly known as the 1982 Loft Law, was designed to protect the residential tenants of certain former commercial buildings in New York City from substandard conditions, eviction, and unfair r ...

. The purpose of this bill is to extend provisions of the Loft Law to buildings which have been occupied residentially for 12 consecutive months during the period starting January 1, 2008 and ending December 31, 2009.

Legislative history

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Martin Malave Dilan Martin Malavé Dilan (born September 12, 1950) is a former member of the New York State Senate representing the 17th and 18th Senate Districts. The 18th Senate District encompasses the northern Brooklyn communities of Bushwick, Williamsburg, ...

introduced the "Expanded Loft Law" in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in 2010. The 2010 version of the bill is coded as S7178A. The bill was amended in May 2010 and passed in the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

(A05667C) on June 3, 2010. On June 8, 2010, the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

passed the “Expanded Loft Law”, bil
S7178A
The bill was signed into law by

New York Governor The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ha ...

David Paterson David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer, who resigned, and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to ...

on June 21, 2010.

Provisions

* Amends the definition of loft dwellings to include

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

buildings occupied for residential purposes for 12 consecutive months from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2009, and extends Loft Law protections to tenants in such buildings * Requires non-residential space in such buildings to be offered for

residential A residential area is a land used in which houses, housing predominates, as opposed to industrial district, industrial and Commercial Area, commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include ...

use only after a residential

certificate of occupancy A certificate of occupancy is a document issued by a local government agency or building department certifying a building's compliance with applicable building codes and other laws, and indicating it to be in a condition suitable for occupancy. ...

has been obtained for such space * Requires owners of loft buildings to achieve compliance with the standards of

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

and

fire protection Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of potentially Conflagration, destructive fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, Compartmentalization (fire protection), compartmentalisation, suppression and inve ...

, and take reasonable and necessary action to obtain certificate of occupancy as a class A multiple dwelling for the residential portion of the building * Authorizes the Loft Board to extend any

compliance Compliance can mean: Healthcare * Compliance (medicine), a patient's (or doctor's) adherence to a recommended course of treatment * Compliance (physiology), the tendency of a hollow organ to resist recoil toward its original dimensions (this is a s ...

deadline that an owner is unable to meet for reasons beyond his or her control * Authorizes the Loft Board, upon good cause shown, to extend the time of compliance twice with the requirement to obtain a residential certificate of occupancy for periods not to exceed 12 months each * Allows owners of such buildings to apply to the Loft Board for an exemption of a building if the owner can show it would cause an unjustifiable hardship * Provides that these interim multiple dwellings become subject to the New York City Rent Stabilization Law after they are legalized * Makes the Loft Law permanent

References

External links

Text of New York State Assembly Bill A05667A - also referred to as the Loft Law Amendment

New York State Senate OPEN Legislation search - S7178A

New York City Loft Tenants information site
{{Housing rights in New York 2009 in American law 2010 in American law 2009 in New York City 2010 in New York City Affordable housing Real property law in the United States Government of New York City New York City Department of Buildings Housing and rent legislation in New York City