New Laws & Regs

City Council Passes Real Estate-Related Laws for 2018

January 26, 2018    

In December, in the last legislative session of 2017, the City Council passed a number of bills affecting owners. They are intended to go into effect in 2018. After a bill is passed by the City Council, it is presented to the mayor, who has 30 days to either sign the bill into law, veto the bill...

New Law Requires Owners to Clear Snow and Ice from Fire Hydrants

January 24, 2017    

In early December, Mayor De Blasio signed Local Law 149 clarifying that owners have to clear snow from the area around fire hydrants at the same time they have to clear sidewalks. Specifically, the law allows the Department of Sanitation to issue violations to owners for failing to remove the...

New Green Buildings Legislation Expands Local Laws to Include Mid-Sized Buildings

November 21, 2016    

Mayor Bill de Blasio recently signed a package of three green buildings bills into law. “Buildings account for more than two-thirds of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions, which we have pledged to reduce 80 percent by 2050,” said Daniel Zarrilli, Senior Director of Climate...

Legionnaires' Outbreak Spurs New Legislation for Cooling Tower Maintenance

August 26, 2015    

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOH) recently announced that a cooling tower in a South Bronx hotel was the source of a deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreak that began on July 10. Laboratory tests determined that the Legionella strain found in the hotel’s...

Legislators Reach Deal to Extend Rent Laws, Overhaul 421-a Program

June 30, 2015    

On June 25, Governor Cuomo and leaders of the New York State Legislature agreed to strengthen the state’s rent regulations and to overhaul the 421-a tax abatement program. The legislative session had been originally scheduled to end on June 17, but negotiations continued into the following...

New Law Banning E-Waste with Regular Trash Goes into Effect

January 28, 2015    

The NYS Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act, which was signed into law by the governor on May 28, 2010, took effect in full on Jan. 1, 2015. Overseeing the law’s enforcement is the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Businesses and households are no longer allowed...

Put Required Sprinkler System Notice in All Residential Leases

November 12, 2014    

Starting Dec. 3, 2014, all residential leases issued in New York State must include a notice advising tenants whether there is a sprinkler system at the “leased premises.” If there is a sprinkler system, the owner must also state the last maintenance and inspection dates of the...

Phaseout of Dirtiest Heating Oils Begins to Accelerate

May 30, 2012    

In accordance with new regulations designed to phase out the most-polluting grades of heating oil, as of July 2012, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will stop issuing operating certificates for boilers burning #6 oil.

Boilers with Certificates to Operate that renew after...

File High-Income Rent Deregulation Form by June 30

May 29, 2012    

This is the first year since the passage of the Rent Act of 2011 that the high-rent deregulation process will incorporate new household income and monthly legal regulated rent thresholds. If you have a tenant who's paying a monthly rent of $2,500 or more for a rent-controlled or rent-...

New Federal Law Requires Adverse Action Notices to Include Credit Scores

July 18, 2011    

The federal Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 requires users of consumer reports, beginning on July 21, 2011, to also provide credit scores to prospective tenants if the score was used in taking adverse or unfavorable action against the tenant. Adverse action...

NYC Raids Illegal Hotels as New Law Takes Effect

June 20, 2011    

On July 23, 2010, Governor David A. Paterson signed into law a bill prohibiting transient use in any “class A” multiple dwelling building. The law became effective on May 1, 2011, and it was created to crack down on “illegal hotels” that have proliferated throughout New...

New ADA Requirements May Affect Building's Pools

January 25, 2011    

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to “public places” and not to private communities. However, if your building allows public use of its swimming pool or other facilities, you may be subject to the ADA and its most recent revisions.

In 2010, the U.S. Department...