New Laws & Regs

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In March, two local laws affecting owners’ ability to pull permits from the DOB have gone into effect. While Local Law 104 of 2019 and Local Law 160 of 2017 have been on the books for some time, the DOB and HPD only recently have issued details for enforcement of these regulations.

Local Law 29 of 2020 became effective on Feb. 11, 2021. It expanded the application of New York City’s lead paint rules to include tenant-occupied, one- and two-unit buildings. Before Local Law 29 went into effect, most of Local Law 1, NYC’s lead poisoning prevention law, had applied to residential buildings with three or more units. Now, with the change, one- and two-unit buildings (except those units occupied by the owner or a member of the owner’s family) are covered by Local Law 1.

Mayor Bill de Blasio recently signed into law a bill that requires some rent-regulated buildings to abide by strict carbon emission caps. The bill, which was spearheaded by Queens Council Member Costa Constantinides, increases the threshold for rent-regulated buildings to be exempted from the city’s Green New Deal emissions reduction requirements. Under the new law, about 1,000 more buildings will have to comply with emissions regulations starting in 2026. The move will reduce about 190,000 tons of climate-harming carbon dioxide per year by 2030, Mayor de Blasio said.

We'll give you a checklist of key lead paint-related documents to save to prove compliance, and tell you about grants available to help you remediate lead paint hazards.

Earlier this year, Mayor de Blasio signed a package of bills designed to strengthen existing lead laws and close loopholes that could potentially endanger children and pregnant women with lead exposure. HPD recently adopted rules implementing Local Law 31, which mandated significant changes for New York City’s lead inspections.

Local Law 110 of 2019 went into effect on Dec. 5, 2019. This law requires residential property owners to post or sometimes distribute copies of DOB/OATH (Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings) violations along with an informational flyer for tenants.

The requirements of this law apply only to violations issued by the DOB and heard by OATH. These violations can be referred to as summonses or commissioner’s orders. The requirements differ depending on which area the notice of violation applies.

On June 14, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019. The governor has called the legislation “the most sweeping, aggressive protections in state history,” and it’s been described as the “strongest tenant protections in history” in a joint statement from Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. With Cuomo’s signature, all provisions of the law take effect immediately.

The New York City Council recently passed a package of lead safety bills that’s intended to update and strengthen the city’s lead laws, setting some of the highest standards in the country. The bills include new guidelines for testing for lead in day care centers, testing for lead in water, lowering the maximum allowable levels of lead dust in apartments, and enhancing notification and reporting requirements. The package of legislation also mandates the provision of certain information to the public and outreach programming on lead exposure and city services.

Effective Dec. 6, 2018, per Local Law 117, the owner of a multiple dwelling must provide stove knob covers for gas-powered stoves where the owner knows or reasonably should know that a child under 6 years of age resides. Owners must also provide stove knob covers in a unit without a child under age 6 if the tenant requests them.

This past January, the New York City Council passed Local Law 55, the Asthma-Free Housing Act. The law intends to combat rising asthma rates and improve the quality of life for more than one million New Yorkers who have been diagnosed with asthma. Effective Jan. 19, 2019, under Local Law 55 of 2018, an owner of multiple dwellings will be required to inspect units annually for indoor allergen hazards, such as mice, cockroaches, rats, and mold. And it requires owners to prevent and remove these indoor health hazards that can trigger asthma.

DOB is proposing to amend rules relating to the annual reporting of energy and water use by individual “covered” buildings. Local Law 84, the benchmarking law, was enacted in 2009 and currently affects all buildings larger than 50,000 square feet. The law requires owners to enter their annual energy and water use in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) online tool, ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, and use the tool to submit data to the city.