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In January, the Department of Housing and Urban Development delayed the implementation of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule, an Obama-era anti-segregation measure rule, until 2020, saying, “HUD believes that program participants need additional time and technical assistance to adjust to the new AFFH process and complete AFH submissions that can be accepted by HUD.” The measure compelled participating jurisdictions to prepare an Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH), which would outline the ways in which cities could correct segregation in housing.

Last year, the City Council voted unanimously on the “Predatory Equity Bill,” which creates a watch list of rent-regulated buildings where tenants are potentially vulnerable to investors who may want to kick them out. Mayor de Blasio recently signed the bill into law.

The state’s highest court recently overturned the lower court ruling that blocked a one-time $183 credit for owners of one-, two-, and three-family dwellings. At the same time, the Water Board increased charges in 2017 for owners of apartment, co-op, and condo buildings. Apartment owners claimed this violated the Public Authorities Law and imposed disproportionate charges on them.

A study published in the Journal of Pediatrics in 2016 found that despite decades of work to reduce lead in paint, dust, and water, about 3 percent of children around the country exhibit high levels of the metal in their blood. According to the study, the problem is particularly acute in parts of the Northeast. The regions with the largest proportions of blood specimens with the highest lead levels were in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

The City Council recently approved a bill that bars owners from asking immigrant tenants for proof of citizenship. Int. No. 1678, introduced by Councilmember Peter Koo of District 20, amends the definition of “harassment” under the Housing Maintenance Code to include discriminatory threats and requests for proof of citizenship. Amending this definition allows tenants to bring harassment claims for such actions in housing court.

The City Council recently passed Councilmember Jumaane Williams’s bill, Intro 1721-A. The bill expands the definition of “harassment” to include to include knowingly providing any false or misleading information to any resident of an apartment, making multiple false violation certifications, or materially misrepresenting the regulatory status or occupancy of a building on a permit application.

Four class action lawsuits were filed recently against three owners believed to be among the biggest abusers of the J-51 tax program in the city. The suits were filed in New York County Supreme Court after an investigation by the non-profit watchdog group, Housing Rights Initiative (HRI).

For years, the city has banned smoking in the common areas of buildings with 10 or more apartments. Beginning in February 2018, the city will extend this prohibition to include buildings with three or more units. In addition, Mayor de Blasio recently signed a measure into law that will require owners to write a policy explaining where smoking is permitted in their buildings, if at all, and to share these protocols in leasing documents beginning August 2018.

As a result of Local Law 69 of 2017, starting Nov. 6, 2017, all owners must attempt to obtain bedbug infestation history from tenants including any remedial or eradication methods. The new law requires owners to share written bedbug infestation histories with tenants on an annual basis. Notices posted in residential buildings or distributed to individual apartments must include the number of units in the building, the number of bedbug infestations reported in the last year, and the number of apartments where the landlord took steps to eradicate the parasites.

Mayor Bill de Blasio recently proposed new mandates that would force building owners to make sharp reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The initiative would mandate that owners of existing buildings larger than 25,000 square feet invest in more efficient heating and cooling systems, insulation, and hot-water heaters in the years ahead. If approved by the City Council, the requirements would apply to about 14,500 private and municipal buildings, which the mayor’s office says collectively account for nearly a quarter of New York City’s emissions.