In the News

City Council Bill Would Compel Owners to Make Repairs

November 21, 2014    

Two years ago the city passed a law to make landlords repair the “underlying conditions” that cause mold to linger and ceilings to collapse instead of simply covering problems with layers of paint. Since the law was passed, records show the city has targeted only 69 buildings,...

Brooklyn Landlord Settles Tenant Harassment Claims

October 24, 2014    

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo recently announced that the state’s Tenant Protection Unit (TPU) has signed an agreement that will end the reported harassment and intimidation of long-term tenants at several rent-regulated buildings in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Flatbush and Crown Heights. The...

Policy Change Encourages Owners to Preserve Low-Income Rentals

October 24, 2014    

Owners who currently participate in government programs that offer subsidies such as bond financing and tax breaks in return for setting aside 20 percent of a building’s units for low-income housing will be able to sell their market-rate rentals—up to 80 percent of an individual...

Lawmakers Seek Airbnb Investigation Over Insurance Claim

September 22, 2014    

Two Albany lawmakers want State Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky to investigate Airbnb for what they call misleading insurance policies. State Sen. Adriano Espaillat and Assemblyman Francisco Moya in a recent letter to Lawsky questioned the legality of Airbnb’s “$1 Million Host...

State A.G. Settles with Firm Over Maintenance, Harassment Issues

September 22, 2014    

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman recently announced that his office has reached a settlement with Colonial Management over the company’s maintenance of 42 rent-regulated buildings in New York City and its treatment of tenants at those properties.

The agreement...

Councilman Seeks to Track Rent Data

September 22, 2014    

City Councilman Antonio Reynoso (D-Brooklyn) recently introduced a bill requiring the city Department of Buildings to alert community boards and council members within 10 days of receiving an application to alter or demolish rent-regulated homes in their districts. The legislation has eight co-...

NYC, NYS File Brief to Protect Stabilized Leases from Bankruptcy Cases

September 22, 2014    

New York City and State officials have recently filed a joint “friend of the court” brief with the Court of Appeals urging it to shield rent-stabilized leases in bankruptcy proceedings. The case involves an elderly widow fighting to keep her rent-stabilized lease from becoming an...

State Investigates Owner's Alleged Pattern of Harassment

August 21, 2014    

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman recently launched an investigation into allegedly illegal tactics used by a Manhattan owner to force out rent-stabilized tenants across 100 residential buildings he owns in Manhattan.

DEP Initiates High-Efficiency Toilet Replacement Program

July 25, 2014    

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced a new program to replace as many as 200,000 inefficient toilets in up to 10,000 buildings citywide. The first phase of the program will target between 7,000 and 10,000 owners who participate in DEP’s Multifamily...

Report Finds Manhattan Rents Reach Five-Year High

July 25, 2014    

Over the past four months Manhattan market rental prices have continued to increase, reaching the highest peaks in more than five years, according to a recent Douglas Elliman report analyzing the rental market in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens for June 2014. The market has tightened as a result...

Fire Department Is Now Responding to All Gas-Odor Calls

June 24, 2014    

New York City’s Fire Department has started responding to all reports of gas odors that the city receives. This is a change in policy put into effect in the wake of the March 12 explosion in East Harlem that leveled two apartment buildings, killing eight people and injuring at least 70...

Report Profiles Demographics of Rent-Stabilized Tenants

June 24, 2014    

The NYU Furman Center recently released a fact brief that details characteristics about the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the tenants who live in stabilized housing. The brief, Profile of Rent Stabilized Units and Tenants in New York City, is an update to a 2012 Furman Center...