THE CITY OF KINGSTON PROPERLY OPTED IN TO A RENT STABILIZATION REGIME PURSUANT TO THE HOUSING STABILITY AND TENANT PROTECTION ACT (HSTPA), PROPERLY DECLARED A HOUSING EMERGENCY, AND PROPERLY PROMULGATED RELATED GUIDELINES (CT APP).
The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Halligan, determined the City of Kingston properly opted in to a rent stabilization regime pursuant to the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) and properly declared a housing emergency. Petitioners, a group of private landlords and an association representing landlords in the Hudson Valley, unsuccessfuly sought to invalidate Kingston’s Emergency Tenant Protection Act (ETPA) opt-in and two guidelines subsequently promulgated by the Kingston New York Rent Guidelines Board (KRGB). The opinion is too detailed to fairly summarize here:
To enter into the ETPA’s rent-stabilization regime, a municipality’s “local legislative body” must make “[a] declaration of emergency” as to all or any class of housing accommodations within the municipality. It may do so only if the vacancy rate for those housing accommodations “is not in excess of five percent” … . Once the municipality makes such a declaration, it must recommend members to be appointed to a newly formed rent guidelines board by the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal’s (DHCR) commissioner … . Matter of Hudson Val. Prop. Owners Assn. Inc. v City of Kingston, 2025 NY Slip Op 03691, CtApp 6-18-25
