Departments

City Council Passes Package of Anti-Harassment and Tenant Safety Bills

August 18, 2017    

The New York City Council recently passed a package of bills intended to provide tenants greater protection from landlord harassment and unsafe conditions. Several of the bills redefine the legal parameters of tenant harassment. Some of the bills also change penalties for harassment. Others were...

City Council Enacts Low-Income Tenants’ Right to Counsel

July 27, 2017    

The New York City Council recently enacted legislation establishing a right to counsel for low-income tenants in Housing Court. Currently, the bill is awaiting the mayor’s signature before it can become law. The bill, Int. 214-A, was proposed more than two years ago but wasn’t...

De Blasio Announces $32M Neighborhood Rat Reduction Plan

July 27, 2017    

Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced a $32 million, multi-agency plan to reduce the city’s rat population that targets the three most infested parts of city: the Grand Concourse area, Chinatown/East Village/Lower East Side, and Bushwick/Bedford-Stuyvesant. This interagency initiative...

Council Speaker Hopefuls Urge City to Reform Property Tax System

July 27, 2017    

City Council speaker hopefuls are urging the de Blasio administration to support a lawsuit challenging the city’s property tax system. Council members Donovan Richards, Mark Levine, Corey Johnson, Ritchie Torres, and Jumaane Williams, all of whom, except Torres, have shown interest in...

Landlord v. Tenant: August 2017

July 27, 2017    

RENT OVERCHARGE

Landlord Not Required to Seek Lowest Cost for IAIs

Tenant complained of rent overcharge. The DRA ruled for tenant and ordered landlord to refund $89, including interest. Tenant appealed and lost. The DRA had calculated the legal rent based on a vacancy increase...

Prolific NYC Owner Pleads Guilty, Must Pay $5M Settlement

June 22, 2017    

Steve Croman, an owner of 140 buildings who’s known for harassing his tenants, pleaded guilty recently to charges of fraudulently refinancing loans and committing tax fraud. Under the terms of his plea, Croman will serve one year on Rikers Island and is forced to pay a $5 million tax...

Annual Report Describes State of NYC Renters and Their Homes

June 22, 2017    

The NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy recently published its annual State of New York City’s Housing and Neighborhoods report. The report provides a compendium of 2016 data and analysis about New York City’s housing, land use, demographics, and quality of life for...

Water Board Won't Raise Rates for FY 2018

June 22, 2017    

On May 18, the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) presented the NYC Water Board with its recommended approach to billing rates for the coming year. The DEP recommended that the board take no action on water rates. And at a public hearing on June 16th, the Water Board confirmed that...

Landlord v. Tenant: July 2017

June 22, 2017    

LOFTS

Buyouts of Prior Loft Tenants Permanently Excluded Units from Rent Regulation

The Loft Board found that residential units in a building qualified as interim multiple dwellings (IMDs) under the Loft Law but weren’t subject to rent stabilization upon prior landlord...

Determining Fair Market Rent, Negotiating Initial Rent of a Decontrolled Apartment

May 24, 2017    

Q A rent-controlled tenant is vacating. There are eight apartments in my building. The other seven apartments were previously rent controlled or rent stabilized. As they became vacant, I renovated each apartment and then rented them, between...

City Council Votes to Combat Illegal Home Conversions

May 24, 2017    

The City Council unanimously passed Intro 1218, which was proposed by City Councilman Vincent Gentile. The bill imposes stiff penalties on owners for illegal conversions. It targets owners of homes classified as “aggravated illegal conversions,” by imposing a $15,000 violation per...

Penalty Schedule Updates for DOS, DOB

May 24, 2017    

OATH is New York City’s central independent administrative law court; it’s not part of the state court system. The OATH Hearings Division is the division of OATH that’s responsible for holding hearings on summonses issued by a variety of agencies for alleged quality of life...

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