HPD Reminds Residential Building Owners to Register Properties with the City

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development recently issued a reminder that property owners and managing agents of multifamily residential buildings and certain one- and two-family homes are obligated to annually register their properties with HPD. City agencies rely on the contact information supplied in the registration for all official notifications, including notices of violation, as well as emergency notices in the event of an emergency at the property or a citywide emergency. The annual registration period is now open, and must be completed by the Sept. 1 deadline. Registration forms may be completed online, signed, and submitted by mail. Building owners who do not obtain the form online will receive it through the mail. When the registration process is successfully completed, the property will be validly registered through Aug. 31, 2017.

Residential properties that are required by law to be registered with HPD are buildings with three or more residential units, regardless of whether the owner resides at the property; and one- and two-family homes if neither the owner nor the owner’s immediate family resides there.

You can use HPD’S property registration online system to:

• Create new property registration forms, whether you are an owner registering for the first time, a new managing agent for an existing property owner, or a managing agent registering for a new owner;
• View information and forms created under your ownership/management;
• Update information from previous registrations for submission to HPD;
• Link to the Department of Finance (DOF) to pay the $13 registration charge.

All forms must be printed, signed, and mailed in to HPD. Valid property registration requires both the submission of a completed property registration form to HPD and payment of the registration fee to DOF. Registrations for these properties must also be filed whenever ownership changes or whenever the information on a valid registration changes (that is, a new managing agent or site management).

Buildings without valid property registration are subject to civil penalties of $250-$500. Furthermore, property owners who fail to validly register their buildings put themselves and their tenants at a disadvantage by making it difficult for HPD to keep in contact with their approved managing agents and emergency contacts. Where properties are not validly registered owners and agents may not receive complaint notifications, notices of violations issued, or other notices issued by HPD regarding Housing Code enforcement activities. Owners will not be allowed to certify violations as corrected or to file for Dismissal Request inspections to have open violations removed. In addition, owners may not be able to file actions in Housing Court without being properly and validly registered.

Additionally, without valid registration information on file, owners my not receive updates to Housing Maintenance Code requirements, new regulations, and other important notices from HPD. A lack of current registration information also makes it difficult for HPD to contact owners or agents in emergency situations such as severe weather, fires, issuance of vacate orders, and other important events that affect the properties.

If property owners need assistance completing their property registration form, they can always contact HPD’s Registration Assistance Unit at register@hpd.nyc.gov anytime or call 212-863-7000 between 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. or visit the main office at 100 Gold Street, 6th floor, Section: E, New York, NY 10038.