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Nearly 280,000 households have submitted ERAP applications, and the number of payments issued to owners is 81,209 since the application portal opened on June 1, according to the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA), the agency in charge of distributing $2.7 billion through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). The majority of the money came from federal pandemic relief packages, and New York State provided some of the funding.
Under a recently proposed bill by Council Member Ben Kallos, broadband Internet would be treated as a utility like electricity or hot water for apartments. If the bill is passed, existing buildings with 10 or more apartments would have until Jan. 1, 2026, to comply. And newly constructed apartments would also have to be wired for broadband under the bill.
On Aug. 10, the state Senate held a hearing with officials from the Office of Temporary and Disability Insurance (OTDA) on the rollout of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP).
The Office of the New York State Comptroller recently issued a report on the problems plaguing the state's rent relief program. The report finds funds slow to move and not reaching low-income and minority New Yorkers. The report discusses the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) rollout with a focus on New York City.
The DOB’s new property ownership certification for Local Law 160 of 2017 is now available. According to a recent DOB Service Notice, as of June 30, 2021, all applications (except LAAs, electrical, and elevator jobs) will require this form to proceed in DOB NOW, the online platform for professional engineers (P.E.), registered architects (R.A.), licensees, special inspectors, progress inspectors, filing representatives, and owners to submit jobs to the DOB.
DOB Commissioner Melanie E. La Rocca announced on June 1 that teams of DOB enforcement inspectors are mobilizing across the five boroughs to perform safety sweeps of construction sites, to ensure that they are safe for both workers and the public.
The New York State Senate and Assembly recently passed legislation extending the J-51 property tax exemption and abatement program. The J-51 tax incentive is an as-of-right tax exemption and abatement for residential rehabilitation or conversion to multiple dwellings. J-51 participants are exempt from tax increases resulting from residential renovation or conversion work for either 14 or 34 years. They can then receive a break on existing real estate taxes of 8.3 percent or 12.5 percent of the cost of the work for up to 20 years.
Last month, the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) proposed a water rate increase for all rate payers citywide. DEP proposed a 2.76 percent increase to the water rate in 2022 to the city’s Water Board. Last year, with the pandemic as a backdrop, the DEP recommended freezing rates for FY 2021, and the Water Board ultimately approved the rate freeze. Should the 2.76 percent water increase be adopted, a typical multifamily unit, with metered billing, could see an increase of around $1.65 per month for water and sewer bills.
On May 5, Governor Cuomo signed a measure passed by the New York State Legislature that extends a moratorium on evictions through Aug. 31. The law extends the COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020, which was passed in December, for an additional four months. The protections for tenants had ended May 1. Under this extension, tenants can continue through August to cite economic hardship caused by the pandemic as a reason for not paying their rent. The measure also continues a moratorium on mortgage foreclosures for landlords.
The New York City Council recently began its examination of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s preliminary budget for the 2022 fiscal year, which begins July 1. At $92.3 billion, it’s almost $3 billion less than this year’s budget. The mayor’s preliminary budget came out at a time of great uncertainty brought on by the pandemic. According to the Mayor’s Office, the pandemic has brought $5.9 billion of unexpected costs as unemployment skyrocketed to 20 percent and remains at over 12.1 percent.
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