Village eyes revisions for draft security deposit law
NEW PALTZ, N.Y. » Mayor Tim Rogers expects there will be a revised draft amendments to the village Fair Housing Law that would imposed penalties on landlords that do not return security deposits in a timely manner.
The update was provided during a telephone interview Monday, with Rogers saying the law was turned over to a committee for language revisions.
“We’re in the midst of trying to iron out the law,” he said.
“We’re looking for feedback from tenants and landlords,” Rogers said. “The landlords are concerned about what the fee could end up being based on the law and ... worried that 14 days is not enough time.” Under the proposed amendment landlords would be penalized if a deposit is not returned within two weeks. Additional amounts would be 25 percent of the deposit within the third week after a tenant leaves, 50 percent by the fourth week, 100 percent by the fifth week, and would have to pay 150 percent by the sixth week. Rogers said a concerns raised during a public hearing last week will be addressed in the revisions. “We’re just trying to make sure it’s clear and not overly complicated,” he said. “A lot of these ideas ... always sound so simple at face value and then when you try to
create something that will work in real life you realize there’s a lot of nuance and unintended consequences.”
Among concerns raised by the New Paltz Tenants Union in written comments is a proposed requirement that tenants will pay for legal fees if a challenge to the law is unsuccessful.
“No tenant will bring a court case if they could be held liable for a landlord’s attorney fees,” New Paltz Tenant Union attorney Celeste Tesoriero wrote. “Why sue for $200 if you are risking being liable for $2,000.” Tesoriero also objected to wording in the proposed law that would base withholding a security deposit on a condition that the tenant is not in “default of any obligation” listed in a written agreement. “This doesn’t make any sense,” she wrote.
“Whether a tenant is in default is an opinion, but you aren’t specifying whose opinion counts.”