New Laws & Regs

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In December, in the last legislative session of 2017, the City Council passed a number of bills affecting owners. They are intended to go into effect in 2018. After a bill is passed by the City Council, it is presented to the mayor, who has 30 days to either sign the bill into law, veto the bill, or take no action.

In early December, Mayor De Blasio signed Local Law 149 clarifying that owners have to clear snow from the area around fire hydrants at the same time they have to clear sidewalks. Specifically, the law allows the Department of Sanitation to issue violations to owners for failing to remove the snow and ice that accumulates on a fire hydrant. This is a slight yet important change from the prior requirement that owners keep snow and materials from accumulating near fire hydrants fronting their property.

Mayor Bill de Blasio recently signed a package of three green buildings bills into law. “Buildings account for more than two-thirds of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions, which we have pledged to reduce 80 percent by 2050,” said Daniel Zarrilli, Senior Director of Climate Policy and Programs and Chief Resilience Officer for the Office of the Mayor. And these local laws “expand benchmarking, install sub-meters and upgrade lighting systems help to provide the key information that is required for building managers to understand and reduce their energy use.

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOH) recently announced that a cooling tower in a South Bronx hotel was the source of a deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreak that began on July 10. Laboratory tests determined that the Legionella strain found in the hotel’s cooling tower matched the strain found in patients.

On June 25, Governor Cuomo and leaders of the New York State Legislature agreed to strengthen the state’s rent regulations and to overhaul the 421-a tax abatement program. The legislative session had been originally scheduled to end on June 17, but negotiations continued into the following week. The Assembly voted 122 to 13 to pass the legislation, while the Senate passed it 47 to 12.

The NYS Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act, which was signed into law by the governor on May 28, 2010, took effect in full on Jan. 1, 2015. Overseeing the law’s enforcement is the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Businesses and households are no longer allowed to dispose of their e-waste by placing it for collection intended for processing at a solid waste or hazardous waste management facility. In short, you can’t place e-waste at the curb with normal trash and recycling.

Starting Dec. 3, 2014, all residential leases issued in New York State must include a notice advising tenants whether there is a sprinkler system at the “leased premises.” If there is a sprinkler system, the owner must also state the last maintenance and inspection dates of the system.

In accordance with new regulations designed to phase out the most-polluting grades of heating oil, as of July 2012, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will stop issuing operating certificates for boilers burning #6 oil.

Boilers with Certificates to Operate that renew after July 1, 2012, must be converted to burn #4 or #2 fuel oil or gas. And according to the new rules, by 2030, #4 oil will also be phased out completely and owners must convert to boilers that burn #2 oil or convert to natural gas.

This is the first year since the passage of the Rent Act of 2011 that the high-rent deregulation process will incorporate new household income and monthly legal regulated rent thresholds. If you have a tenant who's paying a monthly rent of $2,500 or more for a rent-controlled or rent-stabilized apartment, it might be time to send out the second of two Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) forms that may eventually lead to deregulation of the apartment. If you miss the deadline, you'll have to wait until next year to apply for deregulation.

The federal Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 requires users of consumer reports, beginning on July 21, 2011, to also provide credit scores to prospective tenants if the score was used in taking adverse or unfavorable action against the tenant. Adverse action notices are provided to rental applicants who, after the tenant screening process, are denied or conditionally accepted (that is, subject to a cosigner or higher deposit) based on information in a consumer report.