Management Basics

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In New York City, Local Law 55 of 2018, the Asthma-Free Housing Act, requires that owners of buildings with three or more apartments keep their tenants’ apartments free of mold and pests. Under this law, an owner of multiple dwellings is required to inspect units annually for indoor allergen hazards, such as mice, cockroaches, rats, and mold. And it requires safely fixing the conditions that cause these problems.

As a result of Local Law 69 of 2017, apartment building owners are required to file bedbug infestation and treatment reports with HPD annually. Owners must file annually between Dec. 1 and Dec. 31 for the previous year, from November 2020 through October 2021.

The Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) recently announced an increase in this year’s air conditioner rent surcharge for owners who pay for electricity. It set the monthly surcharge at $27.16, up $1.85 from $25.31 last year. This year’s increase reflects a 7.8 percent increase in the price of electricity for electrical inclusion buildings as calculated by the Rent Guidelines Board’s 2021 Price Index of Operating Costs issued in April 2021....

If you’re accepting ERAP funds, you must abide by certain terms.

Large building owners must post the label by Oct. 31 or face a $1,250 penalty.

During “heat season” HPD responds to all heat and hot water complaints and, if adequate heat and hot water conditions aren’t corrected, HPD will impose penalties and may contract with private companies under the Emergency Repair Program to restore services to residents. In the last unprecedented heat season, HPD inspectors worked through a pandemic and responded to more than 114,000 heat complaints at a time when most New Yorkers were sheltering at hom...

On June 23, the Rent Guidelines Board voted to freeze existing rents for six months before increasing rates by 1.5 percent for the remaining half of the year for one-year leases. The RGB also voted to raise rents on two-year leases by 2.5 percent. The new rates take effect for leases commencing between Oct. 1, 2021, and Sept. 30, 2022.

On June 1, nearly two months after lawmakers first created the $2.4 billion rental relief fund, the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) launched the online application portal allowing tenants and landlords to apply for rental assistance. At the time, OTDA said applications to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) would be processed in four to six weeks from the date of submission, though the time frame might vary "based upon the comp...

To implement Local Law 66 of 2019, HPD has proposed a rule amending the definitions of lead-based paint. Local Law 66 of 2019 outlined new lead reference or action levels and standards relating to lead-based paint hazards.

You must file an Annual Apartment Registration application with the DHCR for every rent-stabilized apartment you own by July 31, 2021, using the DHCR’s online Owner Rent Regulation Application (ORRA) system. New York State law also requires owners to provide each tenant in occupancy with a copy of the registration as it pertains to the tenant’s unit. Annual registration information reflects apartment information for April 1 of the registration year and must ...