The Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) recently started its annual process for examining and considering lease renewal guidelines in the coming year. This is the one decision of the RGB that has the greatest impact on owners since the board’s decision with regard to rent renewal increases affects...
On March 25, 2021, Governor Cuomo signed Chapter 82 of the Laws of 2021, enacting a new provision codified as Executive Law §170d. This statute requires the New York State Division of Human Rights to issue regulations requiring housing providers “to provide notice to all tenants and...
The NYC Department of Finance (DOF) requires certain owners of residential properties to file the Real Property Income & Expense Statement (RPIE) every year. The DOF uses income and expense information gathered each year from this filing to value your property accurately for the 2022–...
A recent lawsuit filed by the Housing Rights Initiative (HRI) against 88 brokerage firms and landlords brought attention to source-of-income discrimination. This discrimination is the illegal practice by landlords, owners, and brokers of refusing to rent to current or prospective tenants seeking...
In March, two local laws affecting owners’ ability to pull permits from the DOB have gone into effect. While Local Law 104 of 2019 and Local Law 160 of 2017 have been on the books for some time, the DOB and HPD only recently have issued details for enforcement of these regulations.
State lawmakers recently introduced a newly amended bill that’s intended to meet the federal requirements of the COVID-19 rent-relief measure enacted in December 2020. The federal rent relief package included $25 billion in emergency rental assistance. New York State is expected to receive...
As New York City deals with winter storms and temperature swings, heat and hot water complaints are likely to be the most common type of service complaint you’ll face. A tenant or group of tenants may file a complaint with HPD and may also seek a rent reduction through the Division of...
Local Law 29 of 2020 became effective on Feb. 11, 2021. It expanded the application of New York City’s lead paint rules to include tenant-occupied, one- and two-unit buildings. Before Local Law 29 went into effect, most of Local Law 1, NYC’s lead poisoning prevention law, had applied...
The latest application window for COVID rent relief ends Feb. 1.
When the New York State Legislature passed the Emergency Rent Relief Act of 2020 last May, the DHCR was charged with administering the program by disbursing $100 million from the state’s CARES Act money to eligible...
On Jan. 12, the DHCR issued Operational Bulletin 2021-1, which replaces Operation Bulletin 2020-01. According to the DHCR, this bulletin is designed to be updated annually to reflect reasonable costs associated with major capital improvements (MCIs). The annual bulletin allows the DHCR to...
On Jan. 15, the NYC Department of Finance (DOF) announced the publication of the tentative property tax assessment roll for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22). The tax assessment roll set the tentative values for all New York City properties. The FY22 tentative assessment roll shows the total market value...
Stove knob covers are an important fire prevention tool. The covers make stove knobs on gas-powered stoves inaccessible to children. Local Law 117, which became effective in December 2018, requires that an owner of multiple dwellings provide stove knob covers for gas-powered stoves where the...
