Feature

Gather Necessary Documents When Answering Overcharge Complaints

July 1, 2012    

Rent-stabilized tenants who think they're paying illegally high rents can file rent overcharge complaints with the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR). To beat a tenant's overcharge complaint, you must file certain key documents with your “answer.” These...

How to Comply with Updated CO Detector Rules

May 30, 2012    

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a particularly dangerous gas. In addition to being fatal in large enough quantities, it's odorless, colorless, tasteless, and nonirritating. Passed in December 2011 and effective as of April 25, 2012, Local Law 75 of 2011 requires building owners to replace their...

How to Deregulate Apartment by Renting to Professional or Commercial Tenant

April 27, 2012    

If you have a vacant rent-stabilized apartment, you may be able to take advantage of a money-making opportunity. If you rent the apartment to a commercial or professional tenant who will use it solely for nonresidential purposes (for example, as a medical office), the apartment will no longer be...

How to Make Tenants Remove Obstructions from Fire Exits and Hallways

March 27, 2012    

Tenants sometimes obstruct fire exits, including fire escapes, with a variety of items. Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) inspectors and the fire department routinely find such things as flowerpots, mops, buckets, brooms, and bicycles on fire escapes. These items could...

How to Avoid Discrimination Claims Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

March 27, 2012    

This April marks the 44th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act's (FHA) passage—the landmark legislation signed into law on April 11, 1968, that prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, color, national origin, sex, and, as amended, disability...

How to Deal with Repeated Service Complaints by Tenants

March 14, 2012    

In the March 2012 issue, we discussed how to overcome stall tactics used by tenants to delay rent restoration orders. Oftentimes, tenants will try to introduce new service complaints for defective conditions after the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) has issued a rent cut, at the...

Defeat Tenant Tactics to Prolong Rent Reduction Orders

February 27, 2012    

When you apply to restore the rent after getting hit with a rent cut for reduced services, tenants often try to delay or undermine your application. They'll do so by complaining of defective conditions that weren't listed in the original service reduction order. But you can defeat this...

How to Minimize Chances of MCI Application Processing Delays

February 9, 2012    

When you apply to the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) for major capital improvement (MCI) rent hikes, you want the DHCR to process your application as quickly as possible and grant your rent hike. The sooner it grants your rent hike, the sooner you can start collecting it.

Avoid Delays During Nonpayment Proceedings with Good Document Preparation

December 27, 2011    

When you hire an attorney to start a nonpayment case in housing court against a tenant, you'll want to get it resolved as quickly as possible. To make this happen, it's important to give your attorney all the information she needs right from the start. Otherwise you could face court...

Take Four Steps When Dealing with a Tenant Hoarder

November 21, 2011    

Owners and managers frequently receive a variety of complaints about their tenants' conduct. At some point, it's likely that you may field allegations about intolerable odors from a particular apartment, or about apartment conditions that create a breeding ground for insects, or give...

How to Handle Rent-Stabilized Tenants Who Ignore Renewal Offers

October 24, 2011    

When a nonregulated tenant's lease expires, an owner is under no legal obligation to renew it, unless the lease itself gives the tenant a renewal option. The situation is very different though for rent-stabilized tenants. Generally, as long as the rent is paid, you must offer renewal leases...

Brush Up on What's Required When Painting Apartments

September 26, 2011    

If a rent-regulated tenant complains to the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) about painting problems, such as peeling paint, in his apartment, you could get hit with a DHCR rent cut for reduced services.