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Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced a new program to provide housing security to tenants across the city who may be facing hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Effective immediately, the Landlord-Tenant Mediation Project will serve New Yorkers each month by addressing rent-related issues in a mediation setting, outside of the housing court system. The program will focus on hardest hit communities.
The DHCR recently issued new procedural guidance for in-person visits to the Office of Rent Administration (ORA) Borough and District Rent Offices. Here are the details:
Mayor Bill de Blasio recently signed a bill on reporting of short-term rental data. The bill defined which short-term rental transactions through platforms such as Airbnb have to be reported to the Office of Special Enforcement.
Proposed legislation recently introduced by New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie would prevent all eviction and foreclosure filings for commercial and residential tenants until a year after any part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s statewide disaster emergency is still in place. The legislation is entitled the Emergency Housing Stability and Tenant Displacement Prevention Act, and it would be the longest timetable for leniency that has been proposed thus far. The bill would need to be signed by the governor, and be approval by both the Senate and Assembly in order to become law.
On May 28, the State Senate and Assembly voted to approve a bill to create a $100 million fund to pay rents for people who have lost income because of the COVID-19 crisis. The Emergency Rent Relief Act of 2020 passed the Senate by a vote of 61-0 and the Assembly by a 98-45 margin. It now heads to Governor Cuomo.
On May 26, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a package of COVID-19 relief bills into law during New York City’s first ever virtual bill signing. One bill, Intro. 1936-A, expands the definition of “tenant harassment” to protect tenants from threats based on status as an essential employee or being impacted by COVID-19.
For the fourth year in a row, New York Apartment Law Insider has been recognized by the Specialized Information Publishers Association as one of the best business newsletters published today. Also among the top three newsletters awarded was the Insider's sister publication, Fair Housing Coach, which trains property management staff nationwide on how to avoid costly discrimination lawsuits.
The Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH) is New York City’s central independent administrative law court. The OATH Hearings Division is responsible for holding hearings on summonses issued by a variety of agencies for alleged quality-of-life violations. It adjudicates summonses issued by agencies such as the Department of Sanitation and the Department of Buildings.
On April 28, 2020, the City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings and Committee on Consumer Affairs and Business Licensing held a joint public hearing on two bills that would provide protection to residential and commercial tenants who are financially impacted by COVID-19.
The Insider recently spoke with Phyllis Weisberg, partner at Armstrong Teasdale, about New York’s Shared Work Program and how it could help ease building staff costs during the COVID-19 health crisis.
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