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The New York City Council recently voted in favor of creating a pilot program to expand the city’s housing stock by facilitating the creation of basement apartments in East New York. This program would also aid eligible property owners with low-cost loans. While modest in its initial scope at 40 units, the program could have an impact on the city’s housing supply if it’s adopted in all five boroughs.
City and state legislation recently was introduced that would regulate security deposits on apartment rentals. State Senator Brad Holyman, who represents much of Downtown and Midtown Manhattan, is a co-sponsor of the state legislation. And Councilmembers Carlina Rivera and Keith Powers introduced several bills at the city level.
Governor Cuomo recently announced the launch of NYS Rent Connect, a new online service that modernizes and simplifies New Yorkers' interaction with the rent regulation system. It provides quick access to forms and information for tenants and building owners of rent-stabilized and rent-controlled apartments and buildings in New York City, Nassau, Westchester, and Rockland Counties. NYS Rent Connect can be accessed http://rent.hcr.ny.gov/RentConnect.
The de Blasio administration recently announced that residential evictions by marshals declined 37 percent since 2013, with approximately 18,000 evictions in 2018 compared to nearly 29,000 evictions in 2013. In 2018 alone, evictions decreased 14 percent, with 3,000 households and more than 8,000 New Yorkers across the five boroughs able to remain in their homes as a result.
Under Local Law 55 of 2018, the Asthma-Free Housing Act, owners are required to inspect units annually for indoor allergen hazards, such as mice, cockroaches, rats, and mold. The City Council recently passed legislation that made several changes to the law, which became effective on Jan. 19, including requiring owners to take measures to eradicate pests and remediate the existence of indoor allergen hazards and allowing the HPD to determine whether to perform the work to eradicate indoor allergen hazards.
New York City recently sued Metropolitan Property Group (MPG) along with a number of associated entities and people for turning at least 130 apartments across 35 residential buildings, including one entire building in East Harlem, into illegal short-term rentals primarily through Airbnb. According to the city, MPG and their employees advertised short-term rentals on Airbnb through approximately 250 listings via approximately 101 host accounts using various fake identities.
New York YIMBY recently issued its annual construction report, which includes all new development job applications filed with the Department of Buildings (DOB) from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2018. In 2018, the total number of multifamily units filed with the DOB increased 70 percent from the prior year. There were 32,580 multifamily units filed with the DOB, beating 2017’s total of 19,180 units.
Mayor de Blasio vowed to create new protections for tenants in his sixth annual State of the City address, a sweeping speech focused on the difficulty of city living. During the speech he announced the creation of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants. De Blasio created the office mid-speech, pulling out an executive order from beneath his lectern.
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., recently proposed pairing new rent restrictions with a tax-break for property owners. The plan is intended to end the threat of sudden, significant rent increases in regulated apartments where tenants currently enjoy preferential rents and compensate owners who may lose out on revenue.
The NYU Furman Center recently released a policy brief on New York City’s Universal Access to Counsel (UAC) program, which guarantees legal representation for income-eligible tenants facing eviction in Housing Court. In 2017, New York City enacted the first legislation in the country establishing the right to legal representation for all income-eligible tenants facing eviction. The program has been implemented in four selected ZIP codes in each of New York’s five boroughs, with citywide universal access mandated by July 2022.
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