On July 6, 2016, the New York State Department of Health’s final regulations applicable to all owners of buildings with cooling towers went into effect. The new regulations grew out of emergency regulations the Department adopted last summer when 138 residents of the South Bronx fell ill...
If you sign a vacancy lease with a tenant between Oct. 1, 2016, and Sept. 30, 2017, the new order issued on June 27 by the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB)—RGBO #48—lets you collect the vacancy increases permitted under the Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1997 (RRRA).
In May 2016, the New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) issued a processing directive allowing applications for a rent increase for installing accessibility ramps as a major capital improvement (MCI). An MCI is a permanent increase in rent for a rent-stabilized or rent-controlled...
In April, HUD’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) issued guidance addressing how refusing to rent or renew a lease based on an individual’s criminal history could violate the Fair Housing Act (FHA). Although the guidance does not have the force of law, it shows how HUD intends to...
On June 27, the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) voted for a 0 percent increase on one-year leases, and a 2 percent increase on two-year leases. The nine-member board voted 7-0, with two abstentions from the members representing the interests of landlords, to approve a 0 percent increase on one-year...
From time to time, you may need to ask the DHCR for certain information or documents. For example, you may be defending against a reduced services complaint and want to see the DHCR inspection report, or you may want a printout of all cases currently pending at the DHCR for a building you’...
Few things can cause headaches or lower the value of your building faster than a disruptive or destructive tenant. If you do nothing while a tenant harasses other tenants, you could run into trouble later on. If the tenant harms another building tenant, you may be brought into court to explain...
You must file an Annual Apartment Registration application with the DHCR for every rent-stabilized apartment you own by July 31, 2016, 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...
Even though your lease bans pets, a tenant may violate the lease by moving in with a pet—or by bringing in a pet sometime later. In either situation, you want to get the pet out. While you can always seek the tenant’s eviction as a last resort, you can first try to get the tenant to...
When you make improvements, such as installing a new refrigerator or replacing flooring, to your rent-regulated apartments, you’re allowed an “Individual Apartment Improvement Rent Increase.” This increase is in addition to vacancy increases allowed by law or the regular annual...
A sublet is a rental arrangement in which a tenant rents his or her apartment for a specific period of time to another person, called a subtenant. In a regular sublease agreement, the original tenant keeps the right to return and reoccupy the apartment when the sublease ends. And during the time...
If you’re thinking about evicting a rent-stabilized tenant for nonprimary residence, don’t derail your case before it even starts. Nonprimary residence claims are perhaps the most common type of holdover proceedings brought by New York City owners. Although every case has its own...
