New York Laws
Title 1 - General Provisions
143-B - Avoidance of Abuses in Connection With Rent Checks.

(b) In any such action or proceeding the plaintiff or landlord shall
not be entitled to an order or judgment awarding him possession of the
premises or providing for removal of the tenant, or to a money judgment
against the tenant, on the basis of non-payment of rent for any period
during which there was outstanding any violation of law relating to
dangerous or hazardous conditions or conditions detrimental to life or
health. For the purposes of this paragraph such violation of law shall
be deemed to have been removed and no longer outstanding upon the date
when the condition constituting a violation was actually corrected, such
date to be determined by the court upon satisfactory proof submitted by
the plaintiff or landlord.
(c) The defenses provided herein in relation to an action or
proceeding against a welfare recipient for non-payment of rent shall
apply only with respect to violations reported to the appropriate public
welfare department by the appropriate department or agency having
jurisdiction over violations.
6. Nothing in this section shall prevent the public welfare department
from making provision for payment of the rent which was withheld
pursuant to this section upon proof satisfactory to it that the
condition constituting a violation was actually corrected. Where rents
were reduced by order of the appropriate rent commission, the public
welfare department may make provision for payment of the reduced rent in
conformity with such order.

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