The Office of the New York State Comptroller recently issued a report on the problems plaguing the state's rent relief program. The report finds funds slow to move and not reaching low-income and minority New Yorkers. The report discusses the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP)...
The DOB’s new property ownership certification for Local Law 160 of 2017 is now available. According to a recent DOB Service Notice, as of June 30, 2021, all applications (except LAAs, electrical, and elevator jobs) will require this form to proceed in DOB NOW, the online platform for...
DOB Commissioner Melanie E. La Rocca announced on June 1 that teams of DOB enforcement inspectors are mobilizing across the five boroughs to perform safety sweeps of construction sites, to ensure that they are safe for both workers and the public.
The New York State Senate and Assembly recently passed legislation extending the J-51 property tax exemption and abatement program. The J-51 tax incentive is an as-of-right tax exemption and abatement for residential rehabilitation or conversion to multiple dwellings. J-51 participants are...
Last month, the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) proposed a water rate increase for all rate payers citywide. DEP proposed a 2.76 percent increase to the water rate in 2022 to the city’s Water Board. Last year, with the pandemic as a backdrop, the DEP recommended freezing...
On May 5, Governor Cuomo signed a measure passed by the New York State Legislature that extends a moratorium on evictions through Aug. 31. The law extends the COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020, which was passed in December, for an additional four months. The...
The New York City Council recently began its examination of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s preliminary budget for the 2022 fiscal year, which begins July 1. At $92.3 billion, it’s almost $3 billion less than this year’s budget. The mayor’s preliminary budget came out at a time of...
The COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020, signed by the governor on Dec. 28, 2020, suspended eviction and foreclosure proceedings for 60 days to give renters and homeowners the opportunity to submit a hardship declaration. The suspension ended Feb. 26.
A total of 3,059 tenants were evicted from New York City apartments in all of 2020, according to recent data provided by the city’s Department of Investigation (DOI). The data was compiled by DOI from reports submitted by city marshals, who are charged with enforcing court orders,...
On Dec. 10, 2020, the New York City Council passed Intro. 2033, creating Interim Certificates of Occupancy (ICOs). Certificates of Occupancy are government documents that indicate the legal use and occupancy of buildings.
In May, the state legislature passed the Emergency Rent Relief Act of 2020 to help low-income renters make their monthly rent payments for up to four months. The program was funded by $100 million of federal money. Critics claimed the legislation enabling the act was written far too narrowly,...
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams recently released the annual Worst Landlord Watchlist, which catalogues the 100 most egregiously negligent landlords in New York City as determined by widespread, repeated, and unaddressed violations in buildings on the list. The New York City Housing Authority (...
