Dos & Don'ts, Q & A, In the News, Landlord v. Tenant

Don't Use ChatGPT for Marketing Purposes

July 25, 2023    

Like other real estate businesses, you may be using ChatGPT, Bard, Bing, and other generative AI products, a.k.a. chatbots, for marketing purposes, such as developing advertising strategies, analyzing housing markets, and generating property listings, ads, social media posts, and other marketing...

City Council Overrides Mayor’s Veto to Expand Rental Vouchers

July 25, 2023    

The City Council recently voted 42-8 to override Mayor Adams’s recent veto of four bills intended to expand eligibility for city-issued rental vouchers. The bills, which initially passed in May, will eliminate several existing qualifications to access City Family Homelessness and Eviction...

City Council Passes Lead-Related Legislation

July 25, 2023    

Inspectors may soon have to report on landlords who try to contest their results.

 

Landlord v. Tenant: July 2023

June 22, 2023    

RENT OVERCHARGE

Court Permits Tenant Claiming Fraud to Subpoena Building-Wide Rent Registration Records

Tenant sued landlord, claiming rent overcharge and a fraudulent scheme to evade the Rent Stabilization Law. After starting the lawsuit, tenant sent the DHCR a subpoena for...

Council Votes to Create Citywide Residential Curbside Organics Collection Program

June 22, 2023    

The penalties for not properly sorting out organic waste will be the same for not sorting recyclables.

 

DEP Proposes Water Rate Hike

May 22, 2023    

Increase would pay for stormwater resilience and infrastructure upgrades.

 

The NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently proposed increasing the city’s water and sewer rates by 4.42 percent to the NYC Water Board. Water Board rates are based on the...

City Council Conducts Hearing on Lead Poisoning Prevention Laws

May 22, 2023    

According to City Council stats, there were 111,509 lead paint violations in the city between January 2018 and March 2023. As of March 2023, 45 percent of all lead-related court cases are concentrated in the Bronx. Brooklyn ranked second for cases. The City Council recently held an oversight...

Setting Rent-Stabilized Apartment's Rent After Use as a Landlord's Office

April 23, 2023    

Q How do you set the rent on a rent-stabilized apartment after it has been used by the landlord as an office for approximately 20 years?

NYC Pilot Program to Fund Repairs for Vacant Rent-Stabilized Units

April 23, 2023    

Mayor Adams recently announced an initiative that will invest $10 million to repair stabilized units that are empty, and turn them over to tenants with rental assistance vouchers. The pilot program is called “Unlocking Doors,” and the city will provide up to $25,000 for needed...

Landlord v. Tenant: March 2023

February 21, 2023    

MAJOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS

DHCR Must Reconsider Whether MCI Based on Pointing/Waterproofing Was Depreciable

Landlord applied to the DHCR for MCI rent hikes based on pointing and waterproofing performed pursuant to NYC Local Law 11's facade inspection and safety program. The...

City Sues Owners for Building Code Violations, Dangerous Living Conditions

January 25, 2023    

Mayor Eric Adams and NYC Corporation Counsel Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix recently announced the filing of two lawsuits against Alma Realty Corp. and Empire Management America Corp. for the failure to fix thousands of code violations that created dangerous living conditions for tenants. The lawsuits...

Does Gas Re-Piping Qualify as MCI When Done to Fix Gas Leak?

December 21, 2022    

Q Our rental building had an unexpected gas leak and Con Edison shut off the gas service for six months for mandatory repairs. As part of the repairs, we were required to change all the gas pipes in the building to be able to reinstate the...