As Christmas approaches, many of your tenants will be setting up Christmas trees in their apartments. While a beautifully decorated tree can add to the holiday spirit and help create a fragrant indoor atmosphere, Christmas trees can also pose a serious fire hazard to tenants' apartments as well as to your building. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, Christmas trees account for an average of 200 fires annually, resulting in six deaths, 25 injuries, and more t...

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 Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) ruling that you have reduced services, and the DHCR can order a rent cut.

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.

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 when an inspector visits your building and issues a fine.

Keeping track of all the signs you are required to post in your building's lobby or entrance hall can be difficult. The sign-posting requirements are buried in several different city and state laws. But as difficult as it may be to keep up with the many different requirements, a missing or improperly posted sign could hurt you financially if an inspector visits your building and issues a fine.

Q The August 2008 issue of the Insider states that the most recent vacancy bonus for a one-year vacancy lease is 16 percent. Last year's one-year vacancy bonus was 17.25 percent. I expected this year's increase to be larger. Can you explain the difference?

As winter approaches and erratic weather patterns become more frequent, owners and managers may want to be proactive in keeping their apartment building roofs in the best shape possible. Harsh weather conditions, such as heavy rain or snow, strong winds, and extreme temperatures, can cause substantial damage to a building's roof, says Robert W. Lyons, executive vice president of a roofing company and member of the roofing industry for over 25 years.

Lead-based paint hazards have been in the news recently. A New York state bill dealing with lead-based paint is awaiting Governor Paterson's signature at the time of this writing. Its purpose is to identify 30 communities with the highest amount of lead-based hazards and provide those owners with tax breaks to offset the cost of covering or removing the hazards.

Q A long-term tenant, who lived in the same apartment for 40 years, died recently. I wish to verify the calculation of the new rent. If I calculate the prior legal rent, plus the long-term prior tenant increase, plus the Rent Guidelines Board Order (RGBO) #40 percentage increase, plus 1/40th of the cost of improvements, would this be the allowable computation?

Many elderly tenants are capable of living independently and paying their rent on time. But sooner or later, you may have an elderly tenant who has trouble coping with day-to-day concerns, such as managing money, paying rent on time, or keeping his apartment tidy.