Departments

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...

New NYC Bedbug Law Requires Additional Disclosures

May 24, 2017    

The City Council recently passed legislation requiring residential property owners to file the bedbug history for each of their properties electronically with HPD. It was signed into law on May 10 by Mayor de Blasio. In addition to filing this new electronic form with HPD, owners and managers...

RGB Recommends Rent Increase, Upcoming Meetings and Hearings

May 24, 2017    

At the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) Preliminary Vote on April 25, the board recommended increases for rent-stabilized apartments. Five of the board's nine members voted to recommend a 1 to 3 percent increase on one-year leases, and a 2 to 4 percent increase on two-year leases. This vote comes...

City Files $1.2 Million Lawsuit to Shut Down 'Airbnb Hotels'

May 24, 2017    

The city recently filed a $1.2 million lawsuit against an owner for using Airbnb to advertise sublets of a dozen apartments in three buildings on the Lower East Side for fewer than 30 days. This lawsuit represents the biggest crackdown thus far on an owner illegally using Airbnb. It’s...

IBO Study Looks at Turnover Rates for Rent-Stabilized Apartments

April 21, 2017    

Vacancy rate estimates capture only the number of units empty at a specific point in time and not what became available over the course of a year. To address this question, the New York City Independent Budget Office (IBO) examined tenant information for over 925,000 apartments that were rent...

New Legislation Strengthens Existing Tenant Harassment Laws

April 21, 2017    

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman recently unveiled new legislation aimed at holding unscrupulous landlords criminally accountable for tenant harassment. Current state law demands prosecutors reach a high bar in order to criminally charge landlords with harassment of rent-regulated tenants....

more