In prior articles in August 2023 and February 2024, we explored how the New York State Legislature had recently passed bills that retroactively defined the "fraud exception" to the pre-HSTPA four-year statute of limitations and lookback rule for rent overcharge claims, raising issues about the constitutionality of legislation that retroactively defines provisions of law, while purporting to clarify prior law.

These issues will potentially be addressed by the New York State Court of Appeals next year in actions in which leave to appeal has already been granted, including Burrows, et al. v. 75-25 153rd Street LLC and Aras, et al. v. B-U Realty Corp., et al.

Following the theme of retroactive definitions, this article explores a different facet of the same initial bill, S-2980-C, pursuant to which the Legislature retroactively defined when a tenant is considered to have "permanently vacated" a rent-stabilized apartment for purposes of determining succession rights for family members, which was previously undefined by the Legislature.