Feature

How to Settle Nonpayment Cases Involving Repairs

October 7, 2016    

When you sue to evict a tenant for not paying rent, chances are the tenant will claim in court that his apartment needs repairs and use that as an excuse for not paying rent. For example, the tenant may say he’s not paying rent because you haven’t painted his apartment in five years...

Follow State and Federal Laws After Terminating an Employee

September 23, 2016    

You may unknowingly break the law each time you fire or lay off an employee. That’s because there are several state and federal laws that employers must follow when they terminate an employee. These laws involve a lot of paperwork, especially if the terminated employee participated in a...

NYS Cooling Tower Regs Go into Effect to Reduce Legionella Infections

August 19, 2016    

On July 6, 2016, the New York State Department of Health’s final regulations applicable to all owners of buildings with cooling towers went into effect. The new regulations grew out of emergency regulations the Department adopted last summer when 138 residents of the South Bronx fell ill...

HUD's Criminal Background Screening Guidelines May Limit Tenant Screening Policies

July 13, 2016    

In April, HUD’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) issued guidance addressing how refusing to rent or renew a lease based on an individual’s criminal history could violate the Fair Housing Act (FHA). Although the guidance does not have the force of law, it shows how HUD intends to...

How to Evict Troublesome Tenants

June 23, 2016    

Few things can cause headaches or lower the value of your building faster than a disruptive or destructive tenant. If you do nothing while a tenant harasses other tenants, you could run into trouble later on. If the tenant harms another building tenant, you may be brought into court to explain...

How to Handle No-Pet Lease Clause Violations

May 26, 2016    

Even though your lease bans pets, a tenant may violate the lease by moving in with a pet—or by bringing in a pet sometime later. In either situation, you want to get the pet out. While you can always seek the tenant’s eviction as a last resort, you can first try to get the tenant to...

How to Handle a Sublet or Assignment Request from a Deceased Tenant's Estate

May 10, 2016    

A sublet is a rental arrangement in which a tenant rents his or her apartment for a specific period of time to another person, called a subtenant. In a regular sublease agreement, the original tenant keeps the right to return and reoccupy the apartment when the sublease ends. And during the time...

Follow Seven Rules When Sending Nonrenewal Notice for Nonprimary Residence Case

April 22, 2016    

If you’re thinking about evicting a rent-stabilized tenant for nonprimary residence, don’t derail your case before it even starts. Nonprimary residence claims are perhaps the most common type of holdover proceedings brought by New York City owners. Although every case has its own...

Five Rules for Handling Reasonable Accommodation and Modification Requests

March 18, 2016    

New York City and New York State have recently bolstered efforts to prevent discrimination. When Carmelyn Malalis was appointed to lead the New York City Commission on Human Rights in November 2014, the agency had come under scrutiny for what Public Advocate Letitia James called a “...

How to Win a Rent-Stabilized Unit for Your Business Use

February 22, 2016    

You may want to use an apartment in your building for your business—say, as a managing agent’s office or a super’s apartment, or even for an unrelated business. But suppose a rent-stabilized tenant lives there. Can you evict the tenant? The answer is “Yes,” if you...

How to Get Rent Restored After Service Cut

January 22, 2016    

When you get hit with a rent cut for a decrease in services, act quickly to get the rent restored to its former level. Otherwise, you stand to lose a lot of money. For each rent-stabilized tenant whose rent gets cut, you’ll lose at least the most recent guidelines increase. For each rent-...

Avoid Insurance Coverage Disputes with Incident Reporting Procedure

December 18, 2015    

Suppose a tenant’s apartment is burglarized or a building visitor falls when a stairway handrail becomes loose or something happens in your building that causes property loss or bodily injury. Are you certain your employees let you know about certain incidents like these as soon as they...