LEGISLATIVE GRAVEYARD
Ten bills over a decade. 27 legislative sessions of trying. None enacted. Most never received a committee vote. This is the public record of what New York chose not to do.
THE PATTERN
Reform is not absent because no one tried. Reform is absent because every attempt was killed at the committee level, almost always without a recorded vote. The mechanism is consistent: a bill enters committee, sits for a session, and quietly fails to advance. No floor vote, no record, no accountability.
Each bill below is paired with the corresponding regulatory gap on our issues page. The path from "problem" to "law" is a path New York refuses to walk. For the editorial counterpart to this page, see the blog post "Ten reform bills, zero enacted."
THE BILLS
Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal · Assembly · reintroduced across 6 sessions
Would have required NY state licensure for residential managing agents — exam, bond, continuing education, disciplinary board, public complaint registry.
See the gap this bill would have closed →Assemblymember Edward Braunstein · Assembly · reintroduced across 4 sessions
Mandatory disclosure of board meeting minutes, financials, and reserve fund status to unit owners. Right to inspect records. Right to a copy of governing documents at closing.
See the gap this bill would have closed →Senator Brad Hoylman · Senate · reintroduced across 2 sessions
Would have set a statutory reserve-fund floor (% of operating budget) for condos and co-ops, indexed to building age and LL11 cycle status.
See the gap this bill would have closed →Assemblymember Harvey Epstein · Assembly · reintroduced across 3 sessions
Required unit-owner supermajority vote for special assessments exceeding 10% of annual common charges or $5,000 per unit.
See the gap this bill would have closed →Assemblymember Karines Reyes · Assembly · reintroduced across 2 sessions
Would have barred the LL11 inspecting engineer of record from receiving any fee, referral, or kickback from the contractor performing the remediation they specified.
See the gap this bill would have closed →Senator Liz Krueger · Senate
Extended sponsor liability for offering-plan misrepresentations from 6 years post-declaration to 10 years post-handover-to-resident-board.
See the gap this bill would have closed →Council Member Amanda C. Farías · NYC Council
Cooperative housing corporations must comply with mandatory timelines for the review of applications for purchase or transfer. NOT a managing-agent licensure bill — that vehicle is S.71 / A.4954 in Albany.
See the gap this bill would have closed →Sen. Brian Kavanagh + Assembly companion · State Senate (S.71) / Assembly (A.4954)
Adds Article 12-D to NY Real Property Law. Requires property managers of cooperatives and condominiums to file a property manager registration statement with the NY Secretary of State and obtain certification. Exempts buildings under 25 residential units.
See the gap this bill would have closed →Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou (former) · Assembly
Right of first refusal for tenant associations on sponsor-held unit sales — parallel to SF's COPA. Draft of NY version lives at /06_Legislation/sponsor-unit-copa.md.
Senator Zellnor Myrie · Senate
Required notarial verification + 30-day notice to all heirs before any deed transfer of a property in active estate proceedings.
Assemblymember Daniel Rosenthal · Assembly · reintroduced across 5 sessions
Would have moved co-ops and condos from Class 2 (residential multifamily, higher effective rate) to Class 1 (1-3 family, lower effective rate) for tax-assessment purposes.
WHAT'S MISSING
We track bills that reached at least committee assignment in Albany or the NYC Council. We do not track draft legislation that never got sponsored, advocacy proposals never converted to bill text, or memo letters that never received an answer. The graveyard is bigger than what is visible here.
If you have firsthand knowledge of a reform bill not listed (especially one killed in committee in the last three sessions), tell us. We add primary-source citations and update.