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

Escalating Preferential Rent During Lease Term

December 27, 2011    

Q I have a preferential rent lease rider with a rent-stabilized tenant. Are owners allowed to have an escalation clause in a rent-stabilized lease provided the increased escalated rent is below the legal rent? Will the DHCR allow this sort of...

Councilwoman Proposes Harsher Fines Against Illegal Hotels

December 27, 2011    

The City Council is hoping to apply more pressure on building owners who convert residential apartments into illegal hotel rooms, proposing new fines for repeat violations that could soar as high as $25,000.

Calculating Rent of Former Super's Apartment

November 21, 2011    

Q My building's superintendent is leaving, and I'd like to rent out his apartment. How do I calculate the rent for an apartment that was temporarily exempt for two years and was rent stabilized on the base date?

Getting Relief After Unwittingly Buying Building That's Rent Stabilized

November 21, 2011    

Q My management company took over the management of a five-unit apartment building. Two prior owners ago, the former owner converted the building from a six-unit building to a five-unit one. And the current owner bought the building believing that it...

Ruling Might Require Retrofitting Front Entrances for Disabled Tenants

November 21, 2011    

In a decision that affects all residential buildings in New York City, a Bronx Supreme Court recently ruled that front entrances must be made handicapped-accessible at the request of a disabled resident, unless doing so would be physically impractical and cost prohibitive.

Audit: City Paid Millions in Rent Subsidies to Dead People

October 24, 2011    

A recent audit from city Controller John Liu discovered that the city had paid out $11.8 million through the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) program in recent years to nearly 4,000 dead people. Either their apartment owners or relatives had been cashing in on the oversight.

Landlord Settles Tenants' Harassment Suit

September 26, 2011    

Recently, a settlement deal was reached between the Pinnacle Group, a large New York City landlord, and its rent-regulated tenants, who claimed in a class-action lawsuit that they had been subjected to harassment, unlawful rent increases, and aggressive eviction attempts during the real estate...

Judge Says Landmark Stuy Town Ruling Applies Retroactively

September 22, 2011    

A New York State appellate court ruling handed down recently may have broad implications for tenants across the city. In a decision that could benefit potentially thousands of New York City residents, the court held that a landmark 2009 ruling involving illegally deregulated apartments should be...

Judge Issues Arrest Warrants for Three Brooklyn Owners

August 22, 2011    

 

Three Brooklyn owners of distressed properties were arrested recently for failing to comply with court orders directing them to correct hazardous housing violations on their properties and failing to appear in court, according to the city's Department of Housing Preservation...

Apartment Demand Rises, Owners End Concessions

July 18, 2011    

In the past few months, Manhattan rents have continued to rise and vacancy rates have hit a new low, according to reports released on July 8 by Citi Habitats. Manhattan's apartment vacancy rate was 0.72 percent in the second quarter, the lowest vacancy rate that Citi Habitats has seen since...

Bloomberg Unveils New Approach to Target Illegal Conversions

June 20, 2011    

In a statement released by his office recently, Mayor Bloomberg outlined how the city plans to deal with dangerous illegally converted apartments. A multi-agency task force, chaired by Chief Policy Advisor John Feinblatt, developed a risk assessment model that will be applied to illegal...

Bronx Fire Deaths Spark Crackdown on Illegal Apartments

May 20, 2011    

City fire and building officials will search for new ways to target landlords who unlawfully subdivide their properties, said Mayor Michael Bloomberg in the wake of an April 25 Bronx fire that killed a family of three living in illegal subdivided housing.