Q & A

Setting Rent-Stabilized Apartment's Rent After Use as a Landlord's Office

April 23, 2023    

Q How do you set the rent on a rent-stabilized apartment after it has been used by the landlord as an office for approximately 20 years?

Does Gas Re-Piping Qualify as MCI When Done to Fix Gas Leak?

December 21, 2022    

Q Our rental building had an unexpected gas leak and Con Edison shut off the gas service for six months for mandatory repairs. As part of the repairs, we were required to change all the gas pipes in the building to be able to reinstate the...

Switching from Gas to Electric Stoves in Rent-Stabilized Apartments

July 28, 2022    

Q I own a small mixed-use building in Brooklyn with two commercial tenants, three rent-stabilized tenants, and three market-rate tenants. As a result of Local Law 152 gas piping inspection requirements, I will have to replace five of the...

Claiming Diplomatic Immunity to Sidestep Building Policies

March 18, 2022    

Q Foreign diplomats are smoking in their apartments. Are they allowed to claim some sort of diplomatic immunity from my building’s no-smoking policies? Are they exempt?

Checking Contractors' Insurance Policy Exclusions

February 22, 2022    

The Insider spoke with Jonathan Steward, vice president/producer, O&S Insurance Brokerage Group, to discuss why there are more and more exclusions in contractors’ insurance policies—and how to guard against them.

Insider: New York State...

Communicating the Mid-Year Hike for a One-Year Vacancy Lease in the NYC Lease Rider

September 22, 2021    

Q Can you show how to implement the rent guidelines for vacancy leases starting Oct. 1, 2021? The New York City Lease Rider for Rent-Stabilized Tenants (DHCR form RA-LR1) hasn’t been updated since September 2019 and doesn’t show...

Checking Contractors' Insurance Policy Exclusions

September 22, 2021    

The Insider spoke with Jonathan Steward, vice president/producer, O&S Insurance Brokerage Group, to discuss why there are more and more exclusions in contractors’ insurance policies—and how to guard against them.

Insider: New York State...

Must You Inspect for Lead Paint When There’s No Child or Peeling Paint in Apartment?

November 20, 2020    

Q Under the new lead legislation, if an apartment is presumed to have lead, but there is no peeling paint and no child living in the apartment, do you have to have it inspected? If lead is found, what do you have to do?

Will Insurance Cover COVID-Related Business Losses?

April 7, 2020    

The Insider spoke with Allen Wolff, a shareholder in the law firm Anderson Kill.

 

Q: Landlords are bracing for a drop in rental income as more and more tenants who lose their jobs stop paying rent. Would standard insurance that most landlords carry...

Allowing Electronic Signatures on Rent-Stabilized Leases

November 12, 2019    

Q It seems as though younger tenants want to do everything online and enjoy the convenience of electronically signing documents. Can I offer rent-stabilized renewal leases by electronic means?

Preserving Both Higher Legal Rent and Preferential Rent in Rent-Stabilized Renewal Leases

August 22, 2019    

As a result of the rent laws passed in June, I know that a preferential rent granted in a rent-stabilized tenant’s lease rider or provision must become the base rent upon...

FAQs About the NYC Pet Law and Assistance Animals

November 9, 2018    

The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits discrimination in the sale or rental of housing based on an individual’s disability, and requires a housing provider to make “reasonable accommodations” that are necessary for a person with a disability to fully use and enjoy his or...