NY State Law: Property Insurance "Redlining" Discrimination Banned

"New York lawmakers approved new measures prohibiting property insurers from discriminating against low-income tenants, roughly nine months after a Gothamist investigation revealed the extent of what critics call “insurance redlining” in the five boroughs," reported WNYC Gothamist. 

"The provisions contained in the state’s $237 billion spending plan come after Gothamist found that dozens of insurance companies doing business in New York were asking building owners if they rent to tenants with housing subsidies and declined to cover their properties. Housing advocates say those denials force landlords to find mandatory insurance coverage in unregulated markets, often at higher prices. Property owners either pass those additional costs onto tenants through higher rents or eat the added expenses in the case of rent-stabilized apartments, where prices are capped."