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A three-month amnesty program run by the DOF cleared more than $150 million in penalties owed by New Yorkers due to fines from various city agencies. Proposed by City Council Member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland and agreed to by the City Council and Mayor Bill de Blasio, the September-to-December fine forgiveness program was aimed at addressing some of $1 billion in debt owed to the city and is being heralded as a success by officials involved.
New York City and State regulators are increasing efforts to enforce wage rules for service workers at luxury apartment buildings whose owners receive 421-a tax breaks. The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the city comptroller, and the New York Attorney General’s Office have sent out joint letters to these owners asking for certified statements and evidence that they had paid their workers the legally required wages or an explanation of why they were not required to do so.
As of Jan. 1, every building in the city that has a single-occupant bathroom that’s publicly accessible is required to remove gender-specific signage from single occupant bathrooms and indicate they may be used by all sexes. Larger, multiple stall single-sex bathrooms are not be affected by the new law.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo recently announced that HPD has issued letters notifying owners of 178 residential buildings–with a total of 1,400 rental apartments–that their 421-a tax benefits will be revoked retroactively if they don’t comply with the requirements of the 421-a program, including registering their apartments as rent regulated.
Mayor de Blasio recently announced the launch of the NYC Building Operator Training Program to help residential buildings cut energy costs up to 20 percent. The new program offers a no-cost, 30-hour training program for small, multifamily building maintenance staff on ways to reduce energy consumption. Participants will learn about energy and resource conservation techniques related to a building’s heating, electrical, and water systems. This training model is designed to reduce energy costs between 5 percent and 20 percent without any major capital expenditures.
Airbnb Inc. settled its lawsuit against New York State over a new law restricting short-term rentals, with both sides agreeing that New York City, not the state, is responsible for enforcing it. The new law prohibits advertising of short-term rentals—less than 30 days—with violators facing fines of as much as $7,500.
Public Advocate Letitia James recently released the annual list of the 100 worst landlords in New York City. The list compiles the landlords who have accrued the most violations relative to the total buildings they own. The information is available here and utilizes data from the DOB and HPD.
Airbnb is in talks with New York officials about settling the lawsuit Airbnb filed after Gov. Andrew Cuomo passed a law targeting “hosts” with illegal listings with up to $7,500 in fines. Airbnb sued the city and New York State just hours after Cuomo signed the bill into law in October. A federal judge postponed a meeting scheduled to discuss Airbnb’s suit, saying the two sides are talking about a potential resolution.
The New York City Council recently introduced three bills intended to provide greater protection to tenants at risk of being illegally evicted. The three pieces of legislation target so-called predatory equity landlords. Predatory landlords refer to landlords who buy buildings at high prices in the hope they will earn back the money once the rent-stabilized or rent-controlled units are deregulated.
Each year since 1998, the city has sold off landlords’ unpaid fines and bills to private investors, who then collect payments and can seize properties if the owners don’t pay. But when the debt is sold off the inflating interest can becoming a crushing burden, and residents often feel the brunt of the pain as landlords cut costs on crucial services, according to a report by Public Advocate Letitia James.
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