A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett from earlier this year may have a significant impact on how you handle future labor disputes with your unionized employees. According to attorney William Hummell, a partner at Kucker and Bruh LLP, employers of union employees can now...
Hot temperatures during summer and early fall months make it tempting for tenants to go up on the roof and sunbathe, barbecue, or just cool off from their hot apartments. Unfortunately, allowing tenants on the roof of your building can cause you many problems, such as code violation citations...
Earlier this year, the Department of Buildings (DOB) issued final rules on façade inspections that owners are required to conduct on their buildings that are greater than six stories high. The rules implement Local Law 38 of 2007 that staggered façade inspection and reporting deadlines to make...
A Second Department Supreme Court judge recently declined to dismiss a case brought by the family of a toddler who was scalded during a kitchen sink bath. The toddler received first- and second-degree burns after he turned on a lever controlling the kitchen sink water while his mother was busy...
Preferably, an owner wants to rent to a tenant who will stay in an apartment for at least the entire term of the lease. However, you will encounter tenants who, for various reasons, will want to leave temporarily before their lease ends and sublet their apartment. A sublet is a rental...
Many owners supply tenants with appliances such as refrigerators, stoves, microwave ovens, and garbage disposals. And when these appliances eventually break down, you may need to know whether you are supposed to repair or replace the broken appliance. Failing to do so, if required, can result in...
A pandemic flu is a global outbreak of disease originating from a new flu virus. Since most people have little or no natural immunity to these new flu strains, pandemic flus are likely to be more severe than seasonal flus with greater risk of hospitalization and death.
Owners must be careful about where they keep the money residents give them as security deposits. A security deposit is not in the same category as a rent check or other type of payment an owner may receive from a resident. Technically, the security deposit belongs to the resident. Although you...
Because of the limited supply of rent-stabilized and rent-controlled apartments, state law requires rent-regulated tenants to use them as a primary residence. Oftentimes, tenants will try to hold onto rent-stabilized or rent-controlled apartments they no longer live in. These tenants may be...
The most common tenant complaints deal with loud and disruptive neighbors. Your tenants may constantly be complaining of a neighbor's loud music, shouting and arguments, or barking dogs. And sooner or later, if asking the noisy tenant to stop does not work, you may have to start eviction...
In these challenging economic times, owners are stretched to think of new ways to generate revenue. Installing storage lockers for rental and providing advertising space are two ways to boost revenue, but the proliferation of cell phones, broadband, paging, wireless Web, and related technologies...
Most owners and managers are not aware of all the different signs that are required to be posted in a New York City apartment building. It is difficult to keep up with the sign-posting requirements that are buried in several different city and state laws. However, ignorance is not a valid excuse...
