Feature Articles

How to Request Additional Time to Correct HPD Violations

October 11, 2019

When you get a violation notice from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), it will specify a deadline for correcting the violation. HPD issues violations to owners of buildings that don’t meet the standards of the city’s Housing Maintenance Code...

Building Owner Heating Obligations as Heating Season Begins

October 11, 2019

During the previous “heat season,” the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) fielded 232,621 heat complaints, an increase of 8.1 percent compared to the previous heat season. The current heat season begins on Oct. 1 and continues through May 31, 2020. During this...

DHCR Decreases A/C Rent Surcharge for 2019–20

October 11, 2019

The Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) recently announced a decrease in this year’s air-conditioner rent surcharge for owners who pay for electricity. It set the monthly surcharge at $24.94, down $1.48 from $26.42 last year. This year’s decrease reflects a 5.61 percent...

What to Do if Tenant’s Adult Child Has Taken Over Rent-Regulated Apartment

September 19, 2019

Seven plaintiffs have joined the Rent Stabilization Association (RSA) and Community Home Improvement Program (CHIP) to sue over new rent regulations they claim are ‟unconstitutional.” The plaintiffs are management companies run by three different landlords and an individual landlord. The...

DHCR Updates NYC Lease Rider and ETPA Standard Lease Addenda

September 19, 2019

The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) of 2019, which went into effect on June 14, 2019, made numerous changes to the rent regulation laws. These changes required the DHCR to review and update the New York City Lease Rider [RA-LR1] and the Emergency Tenant Protection Act...

Housing Court Proceedings: Changes Under the New Law

August 22, 2019

The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (HSTPA) made significant changes to various statutes governing rent-stabilized housing, including the Emergency Tenant Protection Act, the Rent Stabilization Law of 1969, various provisions of the State Real Property Law, The Real Property...

How to Comply with NYS and NYC’s Anti-Sexual Harassment Training Requirements

July 29, 2019

Last year, both New York State and New York City enacted several significant measures regarding sexual harassment in the workplace. At the state level, the labor law was amended to require the Department of Labor and Division of Human Rights to collaborate in developing both a model sexual...

Take 1.5% and 2.5% Rent Increases for Renewal Leases

July 29, 2019

On June 25, 2019, the New York City Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) issued an order—RGBO #51—setting the rent increases you may take for rent-stabilized tenants in New York City on leases beginning anytime on or after Oct. 1, 2019, through Sept. 30, 2012. The board is mandated to...

The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019: What You Need to Know

July 11, 2019

By Eileen O’Toole, Esq.

On June 14, 2019, the New York State Legislature enacted the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (the Act), which significantly altered existing rent control and rent stabilization...

How to Avoid Risks Posed by Tenant-Superintendents

June 20, 2019

Owners sometimes hire tenants to be superintendents. This practice can lead to serious problems unless the owner takes precautions. When a tenant is hired to act as a superintendent, he becomes the owner’s employee. This is not a problem. But suppose the owner later wants to fire the...

Governor Signs Sweeping Rent Reforms into Law

June 20, 2019

On June 14, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019. The governor has called the legislation “the most sweeping, aggressive protections in state history,” and it’s been described as the “strongest tenant protections in...

File 2019 Rent Registrations Online by July 31

June 20, 2019

You must file an Annual Apartment Registration application with the DHCR for every rent-stabilized apartment you own by July 31, 2019, using the DHCR’s online Owner Rent Regulation Application system. As in past years, the penalty for not filing is stiff: You can’t collect a rent...