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A bill from State Senator Robert Jackson and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz that prohibits owners from imposing a surcharge on tenants for the use of a tenant-installed air conditioner has been signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul (S2012A/A992A). The law went into effect on Nov. 21.

HPD recently reached a settlement agreement with an owner to correct over 80 lead-based paint violations across six Brooklyn buildings. The owner will pay $82,500 in civil penalties and will correct the violations in five buildings. The sixth building, sold by the owner during the litigation, must have violations corrected by the new owner.

In October, the city’s Department of Buildings (DOB) released its long-awaited draft rules on how building owners can cut their buildings’ carbon emissions to bring themselves in compliance with Local Law 97. Along with the release of the draft rules, DOB has also published the first Local Law 97 Covered Buildings List, which includes all buildings in the city that will be subject to the 20...

The Tenant Harassment Prevention Task Force recently announced a settlement with Greenbrook Holdings LLC. The landlord owns 188 buildings comprising approximately 1,000 units, many of which are rent stabilized, in New York City and State, with the majority in neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn.

New York's state Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program will get $99.4 million in federal funds reallocated by U.S. Treasury officials. This recent payout to New York State is the third time the state has received federal dollars, and this should empty the first tranche of ERA funds available to the state.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Sabrina Kraus recently granted class action certification to past and present tenants in 11 buildings who have sued their landlords. They are accused of “systemic evasion of the rent regulations” and, according to the judge, the tenants showed in detail a “methodical attempt to illegally inflate rents and evade the requirements of rent-stabilization” [Maddicks v. Big City Properties, LLC].

New York State Attorney General Letitia James recently announced that her office had secured $4 million from a group of 29 New York City landlords after uncovering an illegal kickback scheme by the management companies they employed to deregulate hundreds of rent-stabilized apartments in New York City. Most of the buildings were either in Upper Manhattan or in Brooklyn, mainly in Flatbush and Brighton Beach.

New York Attorney General Letitia James recently announced a settlement with Ink Property Group, owner of dozens of NYC apartment buildings. As part of the settlement, Ink will pay up to $1.75 million to preserve affordable housing, and over $400,000 in restitution to tenants.

Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement (OSE) Executive Director Christian J. Klossner recently announced a new lawsuit to shut down an illegal short-term rental operation at a building located in Turtle Bay.

Last March, Governor Cuomo signed into law a new provision requiring the New York State Division of Human Rights (DHR) to issue regulations requiring housing providers “to provide notice to all tenants and prospective tenants … of their rights to request reasonable modifications and accommodations” for persons with disabilities. Although this law became effective last year, enforcement of the notice requirement was delayed until DHR promulgated its ru...