If you sue to evict a tenant in housing court for a reason other than nonpayment of rent (such as nonprimary residence), the law says you’re entitled to what’s known as “use and occupancy” (U & O). Getting U & O while your case is pending is critical, since...
Suppose you sign an initial lease with a rent-stabilized tenant and require the tenant to get a guarantor to guarantee payment of the rent. At renewal time, the tenant returns the renewal lease without the guarantor’s signature. According to the DHCR and a housing court case, you are not...
When a Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) inspector visits your building in response to a tenant’s complaint, the inspector won’t simply check the problem the tenant has complained about. The inspector will also check the tenant’s apartment for six defects...
No owner likes to get hit with a rent overcharge order. And it’s worse if the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) orders you to pay triple damages on top of that. But the DHCR shouldn’t hit you with triple damages in every case where it finds an overcharge. If you can...
Many tenants take advantage of rent control and rent stabilization laws to use their apartments as a low-cost second home. They actually live elsewhere, but keep their New York City apartments for business or pleasure. As an owner, you don’t have to stand by as these tenants unfairly reap...
A managing agent is designated by an owner to be in control of and responsible for the maintenance and operation of the building and to authorize, on behalf of the owner, the correction of any emergency conditions or the making of any emergency repairs. A managing agent must be an individual...
In August 2016, the NYC Commission on Human Rights entered into a settlement agreement with an owner for alleged age discrimination. A rent-stabilized tenant had filed a complaint against a large real estate management company because the company opened an exercise room in the building and...
If you’re planning to do work at your building and expect to get a major capital improvement (MCI) rent increase for it, you probably know that the work must meet the Division of Housing and Community Renewal’s (DHCR) useful life requirements. Those requirements are set out in...
At some point, you may want building staff to work overtime or to handle an extra job. But whether you’re asking a doorman to work extra hours to fill in for vacationing employees or offering a handyman a lump sum to paint an apartment on a Saturday, you need to make sure you pay that...
If you plan to send the annual Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH)-required window guard notices to your tenants by Jan. 16, 2017, you may believe you’ve fully complied with your window guard obligations. That’s just the first step, however. If a tenant hasn’t...
One day you may get an order from the District Rent Administrator (DRA) denying you a rent increase you think you’re entitled to, or unfairly finding that you’ve overcharged a tenant for decreased services. As a result, you may find yourself filing a petition for administrative...
