City Council Passes Clarifying Amendments to Indoor Allergen Hazards Law

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.

In effect, the passed bill removed mentions of “reasonable efforts” on the part of owners and instead requires owners to absolutely eliminate pests and take measures to eradicate pests and mold hazards. In addition, instead of taking reasonable measures to remediate underlying defects, owners are required to expeditiously remediate any underlying defect that causes pests and other indoor allergen hazards.