Governor Kathy Hochul today signed a legislative package to bolster homeownership and strengthen protections for renters. The homeowner package will make homeownership more attainable through tax incentives and strengthens laws and policies to combat home appraisal discrimination. The renters package will strengthen protections for tenants statewide including extending protections on security deposits, limits on excessive fees for bounced checks, and banning collusion using algorithm-enabled rent price fixing used to inflate rents.

“Every New Yorker deserves a safe, stable place to call home,” Governor Hochul said. “With this legislation, we’re opening more doors to homeownership and strengthening protections for renters — because every New Yorker deserves the fair chance to build a better life in a home they can afford. I am committed to delivering fairness and affordability in every corner of our state, so more New Yorkers can put down roots and build a future right here at home.”

Bolstering Homeownership Opportunities

Legislation (A355-C/S1718-B) creates an affordable homebuyer opt-in property tax incentive for homes built with assistance from governmental entities, nonprofits, land banks, or community land trusts, and sold to low- and moderate-income homebuyers. This will aid such homebuyers by making their dream of homeownership more attainable by bringing down costs and increasing the supply of these homes.

State Senator Michelle Hinchey said, “We’ve been fighting to make homeownership affordable in rural and upstate communities because it shouldn’t be the case that working families are priced out of the housing market. Our legislation will help change that by allowing local governments to offer property tax breaks on homes sold through nonprofits, land trusts, and land banks. I thank Governor Hochul for signing our bill, which will help more New Yorkers realize the dream of owning a home and achieve the kind of housing stability that carries on across generations.”

Assemblymember Didi Barrett said, “Our communities simply cannot survive without building more affordable housing for people to live and raise their families. Habitat for Humanity and community landbanks have shown the way and this common sense legislation will help ensure these homes remain accessible to hard working New Yorkers. I thank Governor Hochul for signing this important bill into law to continue our battle against the housing affordability crisis.”

Legislation (A6770/S7285) empowers communities to redevelop vacant properties into housing. Many municipalities struggle with vacant and abandoned buildings that are in a significant state of disrepair in neighborhoods that lack the local economic conditions necessary to incentivize redevelopment. Consequently, the investment required to redevelop these properties can exceed their value and the resulting funding gap prevents the property from being rehabilitated. This legislation will make available an opt-in tax incentive to incentivize redevelopment of vacant or abandoned one-to-four family homes for use as affordable homeownership or rental housing. This tool will help localities across the state combat vacant and abandoned properties and revitalize neighborhoods while also promoting more affordable housing opportunities.

Assemblymember Judy Griffin said, “This legislation will expand the Residential Redevelopment Inhibited Property Exemption (currently only available in small cities) to the rest of the state. Allowing local governing bodies the option to offer this property tax exemption will provide local governments with an additional tool to encourage the rehabilitation of abandoned properties. This legislation supports local control while increasing the housing stock, and will help remove blight from our neighborhoods. I thank the Governor for signing this important bill.”

Legislation (A6869/S7320) strengthens laws and policies to combat home appraisal discrimination. For too long, pervasive appraisal bias throughout the housing industry has unjustly stripped families of color of this opportunity, widening racial homeownership and wealth gaps. This legislation will make it a violation of the State's Human Rights Law to discriminate when providing real estate appraisals or in making such services available. The law will further enable the Department of State to fine appraisers for violations, in addition to other existing remedies, with half of those fines going to a fund to support fair housing enforcement.

State Senator Brian Kavanagh said, “To end the housing crisis, we need to use all the tools we have available to us, not only to increase housing supply, but also to ensure stability, affordability, and fair treatment for homeowners and renters. Each of the bills Governor Hochul is signing today is an important step toward that end. This bill recognizes that discrimination in appraisals undermines one of the key benefits of homeownership and reinforces the effects of our terrible history of bias and segregation in housing. I thank Governor Hochul and Assemblymember George Alvarez, and all of our colleagues who supported this important legislation.”

Assemblymember George Alvarez said, “Every New Yorker deserves access to safe, stable, and affordable housing, whether renting or working toward homeownership. I am proud to have sponsored legislation that addresses discriminatory appraisal practices and strengthens protections for renters against unfair fees and rent manipulation. These measures are an important step toward greater equity in our housing system, ensuring our communities remain places where families can build a secure and dignified future.”

Legislation (A3470/S7413) requires notice to be provided ninety days prior to commencement of a foreclosure action by a homeowners' association or condominium board lien for unpaid common charges, assessments, fines or fees.

State Senator Brian Kavanagh said, “Disputes with homeowners’ associations or condominium boards over unpaid common charges or other financial obligations can pose a serious threat to homeowners’ ability to keep their homes, yet foreclosure actions may come without proper notice. I want to thank Governor Kathy Hochul, Assemblyman Chuck Lavine, and our colleagues for taking action to close this significant gap in the law and protect homeowners throughout the state.”

Assemblymember Charles D. Lavine said, “This legislation will make it easier for hard working Long Islanders to achieve the dream of owning their own home. I thank Governor Hochul for continuing to make living in New York more affordable for all hard-working residents of the state.”

Strengthening Protections for Renters

Legislation (S7882/A1417-B) bans collusion using algorithm-enabled rent price fixing. Recent data shows that price fixing algorithms cost tenants nationwide an estimated $3.8 billion more in inflated rents last year alone. The software companies make no secret that private data algorithms are intended to drive rent increases, with some openly advertising that they can help property owners outperform the market, resulting in housing market distortion and hurting tenants during a historic housing supply and affordability crisis. This legislation will protect renters from these practices, making New York among the first states in the nation to address rent price fixing collusion using these software services.

State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal said, “By signing our bill to prohibit landlords from using algorithms to artificially inflate rents and reduce housing supply, Governor Hochul is ensuring fairness and transparency in New York's rental housing market. The use of rent-fixing software like RealPage leads to collusion, plain and simple, and artificially increases the cost of housing when hard-working New Yorkers face a severe housing crisis. This legislation will update our antitrust laws to make clear that rent price-fixing via artificial intelligence is against the law and ensure there are boundaries against behaviors that the federal government has found lead to anticompetitive practices and price fixing. It's already too hard to be a renter in New York, and we cannot allow exploitative technology make it any harder. Thank you to Governor Hochul, to Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins for making this bill a priority, and to Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal for her partnership.”

Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal said, “During an affordable housing crisis, real estate tycoons have turned to sophisticated computer algorithms to help them raise rents and turn a larger profit. In New York, that scheme ends today. With the signing of my legislation to ban the use of algorithmic pricing by landlords, we are leveling the playing field for tenants, giving New Yorkers greater access to affordable apartments and declaring this unfair, anti-competitive practice as unlawful collusion, once and for all. I thank Governor Hochul for signing this legislation into law, along with a package of other bills to protect renters and support homeownership.”

Legislation (S952-B/A6423-A) extends security deposit protections to rent-regulated tenants. In 2019, New York State provided market-rate tenants statewide with protections for security deposits, including requiring the return of remaining security deposits within 14 days of vacating the unit and allowing tenants to request an inspection to determine what needs to be remedied to receive a security deposit back in full. Rent-regulated tenants were erroneously left out from receiving these important protections. This legislation will grant rent-regulated tenants the same protections for their security deposits as all other tenants.

State Senator Brian Kavanagh said, “Improper handling of security deposits or failure to return them promptly when they’re due can cause needless hardship and frustration for tenants. This bill builds on the essential protections regarding security deposits that we enacted in the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act and extends them to about a million additional tenant households. I thank Governor Kathy Hochul, Assemblymember Micah Lasher, and all our colleagues who supported the bill, as well as former Assemblymember Danny O’Donnell, with whom I previously worked on this.”

Assemblymember Micah Lasher said, “I am so pleased that Governor Hochul is signing into law new, critical protections for rent-stabilized tenants. This legislation, on which I was proud to partner with Senate Housing Chair Brian Kavanagh, will ensure that New York’s one million rent-stabilized tenants don’t get ripped off on their security deposits, and get back all the money they are owed. It’s common sense and long overdue.”

Legislation (A56-B/S3845-B) limits the fees a landlord could collect due to a bounced check to the greater of $20 or the costs the landlord incurred.

State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal said, “Tenants should not be subject to exploitative fees because a rent check bounces, often through no fault of their own. Our legislation creates a statutory protection for tenants – rent stabilized or not – by capping the amount a landlord can charge a tenant for a bounced check at $20 or the actual charge incurred by the landlord as a result of a tenant's check bouncing, whichever is greater. I am thankful to Governor Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Assemblymember Harvey Epstein for standing up for tenants and delivering this common-sense bill into law.”

Assemblymember Harvey Epstein said, “Needlessly punitive fees only serve to exacerbate economic hardship. Now, no one in the state of New York can be charged more than $20 or the costs the landlord incurred. Thank you to Governor Hochul and Senator Hoylman-Sigal for your collaboration in achieving this win for New York tenants.”

Legislation (S8311-A/A8412-D) ensures that family members and other individuals with established emotional and financial ties to tenants of NYCHA properties are granted succession rights. This prevents displacement of families and promotes transparency.

State Senator Brian Kavanagh said, “It’s important for public housing residents to have clarity on what their rights are regarding succession when the tenant whose name is on the lease leaves or passes away. I thank Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn for her leadership on this issue, the New York City Housing Authority for working with us, and Governor Kathy Hochul for signing this bill into law.”

Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn said, “By ensuring that family members with strong financial and emotional ties to NYCHA residents can remain in their homes, this legislation helps families stay rooted in their communities and maintain housing security. I’m proud to have sponsored this bill and thank Governor Hochul for her partnership and commitment to protecting renters and strengthening housing stability for New Yorkers.”

Governor Hochul’s Housing Agenda
Governor Hochul knows that the only way out of our affordability crisis is to build more housing while protecting tenants and homeowners. That is why the Governor has made housing a central focus of her administration. The Governor created a five-year affordable housing plan to create or preserve 100,000 homes, the largest such plan in New York’s history. The plan is ahead of schedule with 65,000 homes. Additionally under the Governor’s leadership, New York City is able to incentivize more affordable housing by authorizing a new 485-x tax incentive for ten years and rescuing 71,000 homes under 421-a that were at risk. She also enabled incentives and unlocked zoning changes to allow for the conversion of office and commercial spaces to homes in NYC, allowing for up to 120 million sq ft for conversion to housing and up to 18,000 more homes.

• Removed an arbitrary cap on residential development that had been stifling growth in NYC for more than six decades, allowing thousands more homes to be constructed on the same lot.
• Committed an additional $1 billion to secure “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity,” the most impactful pro-housing rezoning in New York City’s history, expected to produce more than 80,000 new homes.
• Created the Pro-Housing Communities Program, which encouraged localities to adopt pro-housing principles by providing access to $750 million in grant funds to foster more housing growth locally. To date, over 360 communities throughout the state have been certified.
• Secured historic anti-price gouging and eviction protections for New York renters to protect them from unreasonable rent increases.
• Took action to disincentivize private equity investors from buying homes en masse to help level the playing field for everyday homebuyers.

Earlier this week, Governor Hochul signed legislation to initiate tax cuts for Penn South residents. This action permits New York City to pass local tax relief for Penn South. The legislation signed builds on the Governor’s FY26 Budget win, which automatically reduced taxes in half for New York City Mitchell-Lama households. This action is estimated to save Mitchell-Lama residents in New York City up to $50 million annually. The Budget also authorized local governments to offer similar tax relief to Mitchell-Lama developments outside New York City.