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The DHCR recently issued Fact Sheet #45 pertaining to the housing rights of foreign-born tenants. It reminds owners about the laws regarding discrimination, harassment, and retaliation pertaining to immigrant tenants.
The New York City Council recently passed a package of bills intended to provide tenants greater protection from landlord harassment and unsafe conditions. Several of the bills redefine the legal parameters of tenant harassment. Some of the bills also change penalties for harassment. Others were drafted to increase tenant awareness of harassment protections through notice requirements, tenant protection plan requirements, and maintenance of a contractor watch list by the DOB.
The New York City Council recently enacted legislation establishing a right to counsel for low-income tenants in Housing Court. Currently, the bill is awaiting the mayor’s signature before it can become law. The bill, Int. 214-A, was proposed more than two years ago but wasn’t brought before the full council for a vote at that time because some expressed concerns about costs. Since then, support for the bill had grown, with 42 co-sponsors from the 51-member City Council as well as the support of Public Advocate Letitia James.
Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced a $32 million, multi-agency plan to reduce the city’s rat population that targets the three most infested parts of city: the Grand Concourse area, Chinatown/East Village/Lower East Side, and Bushwick/Bedford-Stuyvesant. This interagency initiative aims to reduce rat activity by up to 70 percent in the targeted zones by minimizing food sources and available habitats.
City Council speaker hopefuls are urging the de Blasio administration to support a lawsuit challenging the city’s property tax system. Council members Donovan Richards, Mark Levine, Corey Johnson, Ritchie Torres, and Jumaane Williams, all of whom, except Torres, have shown interest in running for Council speaker, have signed a letter saying it’s wrong for the city to oppose the lawsuit.
Steve Croman, an owner of 140 buildings who’s known for harassing his tenants, pleaded guilty recently to charges of fraudulently refinancing loans and committing tax fraud. Under the terms of his plea, Croman will serve one year on Rikers Island and is forced to pay a $5 million tax settlement.
The NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy recently published its annual State of New York City’s Housing and Neighborhoods report. The report provides a compendium of 2016 data and analysis about New York City’s housing, land use, demographics, and quality of life for each borough and the city’s 59 community districts.
On May 18, the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) presented the NYC Water Board with its recommended approach to billing rates for the coming year. The DEP recommended that the board take no action on water rates. And at a public hearing on June 16th, the Water Board confirmed that water rates won’t be raised in Fiscal Year 2018.
The City Council unanimously passed Intro 1218, which was proposed by City Councilman Vincent Gentile. The bill imposes stiff penalties on owners for illegal conversions. It targets owners of homes classified as “aggravated illegal conversions,” by imposing a $15,000 violation per three or more units above the legally allowed amount as stated in the home’s certificate of occupancy. If unpaid, the fine would be subject to a lien sale on the property.
OATH is New York City’s central independent administrative law court; it’s not part of the state court system. The OATH Hearings Division is the division of OATH that’s responsible for holding hearings on summonses issued by a variety of agencies for alleged quality of life violations. These types of hearings were traditionally called Environmental Control Board (ECB) hearings.
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