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The mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement is bringing a lawsuit against an owner who turned rent-stabilized apartments in his four-story Manhattan walk-up into illegal hotels via Airbnb and other platforms. In September 2017, officials found “illegal hotel use” in six out of the nine units inside the Chelsea building. Previously, in August 2014, officials found that two of the units were being unlawfully rented through Airbnb.
A new class action lawsuit was recently filed against Steve Croman, who is serving jail time for mortgage and tax fraud. The complaint alleges that Croman wrongfully removed nearly 70 percent of the units at 326-340 East 100th Street from New York’s rent stabilization program. At the same time, he was receiving the J-51 tax break, which requires owners to keep 100 percent of their units rent stabilized.
The DOB recently imposed an emergency vacate order after conducting a court-ordered inspection of a building on the Lower East Side. The DOB required the property owner to replace an unstable staircase within two weeks. This sudden evacuation, which displaced nearly 100 people, including 17 children, followed a month after the DHCR determined that apartments in the building are legally rent stabilized and tenants could stay.
The Department of Buildings (DOB) is proposing to update the Buildings Penalty Schedule to reflect the current construction environment, and to better ensure public safety. The last major overhaul of the Buildings Penalty Schedule occurred in 2008.
The DOB will hold a public hearing on the proposed rule. And the public hearing will take place at 10 a.m. on Jan. 16. The hearing will be in the 2nd floor auditorium at 125 Worth Street.
Attorney General Schneiderman recently announced that Steve Croman, a major multifamily owner who is serving a prison sentence for mortgage fraud, agreed to pay $8 million in restitution to tenants he harassed. An independent manager will run more than 100 of Croman’s properties, and Croman will also have to pay for a court-appointed monitor who will ensure compliance.
The recent tragic fire that spread through a Bronx apartment building claiming the lives of 12 people including five children has been deemed New York City’s deadliest since 87 people were killed at a Bronx club in 1990. According to reports, the flames spread quickly from a ground-floor apartment and up the open stairwell, which the city’s fire chief said “acted like a chimney.” Some tried to flee down stairs that were consumed by flames and smoke. And other residents climbed onto fire escapes when the first firefighters arrived.
The City Council recently approved the rezoning of East Harlem, the third neighborhood to be rezoned under the mandatory inclusionary housing program (MIH). To get the rezoning plan passed, the council modified it to align more closely to the community-based planning vision and evaluated the location of vulnerable rent-stabilized housing to minimize displacement pressure. The council agreed to reduce the density and the height limits on buildings throughout the 96-block stretch of the rezoned area.
The City Council recently unanimously voted on the “Predatory Equity Bill,” which will create a watch list of rent-regulated buildings where tenants are potentially vulnerable to investors who may want to kick them out. The legislation requires HPD to compile a “Speculation Watch List” of rent-regulated properties with sales prices that are unusually high in comparison to similar sales in the area. City officials feel that such transactions could hint that investors seek to raise rents in the buildings by displacing current tenants.
The City Council recently passed a bill implementing a new tenant protection policy. The “Certification of No Harassment” (CONH) legislation requires covered building owners seeking to demolish or make significant alterations to their building to prove they have not engaged in harassment before they can get the permits they need from the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB).
Scott Stringer, New York City comptroller, recently issued a report encouraging owners and property management companies to give tenants the ability to opt in to reporting their rent payments as a way to boost their credit scores. Looking at a sampling of tenants paying less than $2,000 a month, Mr. Stringer’s office found that 76 percent of them would see their credit scores improve if their rental payments were included. An additional 18 percent of tenants would probably see no material change to their credit score but would gain additional depth to their credit report.
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