New York is a city of buildings. According to data provided by the city, the electricity, heating, and hot water we consume in buildings accounts for 75 percent of New York City's greenhouse gas footprint, and $15 billion per year in energy costs. The city's largest buildings—over...
The city's Department of Sanitation (DOS) has a recycling program for Christmas trees and wreaths. It should make getting rid of trees and wreaths after the holiday much easier for you. The trees and wreaths may simply be put at curbside anytime on any day, on or after Monday, Jan. 3,...
In the June 2010 issue, we wrote about the Department of Building's (DOB) increased attention to apartment balconies in New York City after the March death of a tenant who fell from a faulty 24th-floor terrace on East 39th Street. At the time of the announcement, DOB had declared the...
In late September, a Vietnam veteran was sitting with his dog outside his building on Second Avenue in the East Village when a 45-pound air conditioner fell from a sixth-floor window. The air conditioner bounced off of the first-floor commercial tenant's awning and landed on his head. After...
On March 2, 2010, New York City enacted the Tenant Fair Chance Act (TFCA). It places new disclosure requirements in connection with applications for renting apartments on owners and managers of buildings with six or more apartments.
If you are hit with a rent overcharge complaint from a rent-stabilized tenant and think the tenant may have a good case, consider trying to settle the case with the tenant before the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) decides it. Settling the complaint has certain advantages—...
Governor Paterson recently signed into law a bill aimed at helping prospective tenants combat the bedbug epidemic. The Bedbug Disclosure Act requires owners and managing agents to notify new rental tenants of bedbug infestations that have plagued the building and the tenant's individual...
As Stuyvesant Town gets ready for foreclosure, a judge recently ruled that current owner Tishman Speyer and past owner MetLife must pay back tenants retroactive rent rollbacks. In other words, the tenants are entitled to be reimbursed for years of rent overcharges on apartments whose rents were...
Protecting tenants against domestic violence is a difficult problem many owners face. In some situations, you may be required to let a domestic violence victim out of her lease. In New York State, the tenantial lease termination bill was signed into law on June 4, 2007, and amended on Aug. 15,...
On July 6, 2010, the final amendments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) rule went into effect. These amendments added new requirements to the relatively new rules that went into effect in April of this year and were discussed in detail...
When you make improvements, such as installing a new refrigerator or replacing flooring, to your rent-regulated apartments, the owner may be entitled to an “Individual Apartment Improvement Rent Increase.” This increase is in addition to vacancy increases allowed by law or the...
When the tenant of a rent-regulated apartment dies and there is no relative living in the apartment who claims to have “pass-on” rights, an owner is still left with a number of legal complications before the apartment can be recovered.
