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Owners sometimes hire tenants to be superintendents. This practice can lead to serious problems unless the owner takes precautions. When a tenant is hired to act as a superintendent, he becomes the owner’s employee. This is not a problem. But suppose the owner later wants to fire the employee. The owner might discover that the employee retains his rights as a tenant. If the tenant is protected by rent laws, the owner won’t be able to evict the tenant. Thus, ...

The City Council recently passed 17 bills meant to protect tenants and prevent landlords from harassing them out of their apartments. The legislative package includes new rules on renovations, tenant buyouts, housing court process servers, and more. With its passage, owners cannot use construction as a means of harassment or falsify information on construction documents without being penalized.

The Rent Stabilization Code (RSC) requires you to give advance notice to a rent-stabilized tenant before you can seek his eviction in most cases. The notice, known as a termination notice, informs the tenant that he must vacate or give up his apartment by a certain date.

The New York City Commission on Human Rights recently announced the launch of its new “While Black” ad campaign to combat racial discrimination. According to Carmelyn P. Malalis, chairwoman and commissioner of the organization, the ad campaign is an effort to encourage more people to report instances of discrimination against them.

It may be to your advantage to settle with a tenant over a complaint he’s filed with the DHCR before the DHCR makes a decision on the complaint. Doing so can save you time and money, and you can avoid concerns over an uncertain result. But you need to be careful about how you settle the complaint. The Rent Stabilization Code (RSC) sets forth some rules on what you must do. If you fail to follow them, the tenant can turn around later and renounce the settlement.

Several new and re-elected state senators have made eliminating rent increases tied to major capital improvements (MCIs) important parts of their housing agenda. Last year, State Senator Mike Gianaris and Assemblyman Brian Barnwell introduced a bill in their respective chambers that would repeal the MCI program and instead provide building owners with tax credits to offset the costs of upgrades. Also, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced in his State of the State address tha...

Speaker Corey Johnson recently introduced a package of bills that focus on protecting tenants in rent-stabilized apartments from harassment by the owners. With the speaker in support of them, the bills have a good chance of passage in the Democrat-controlled Council with some minor revisions and amendments. However, the legislation is likely to face strong opposition from New York’s real estate industry, and it’s not immediately clear whether the bills have ...

Before you sue to evict a tenant for illegally subletting an apartment, you must send the tenant a legal document called a “notice to cure,” which gives the tenant a chance to correct the illegal sublet. If you end up in court on your illegal sublet claim and win, the court will usually give the tenant another chance to correct the illegal sublet before it orders the tenant’s eviction.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), secondhand smoke exposure contributes to approximately 41,000 deaths among nonsmoking adults and 400 deaths of infants each year. Secondhand smoke causes stroke, lung cancer, and coronary heart disease in adults. And children who are exposed to secondhand smoke are at increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections, middle ear disease, more severe asthma, respiratory symptom...

Generally, tenants in rent-stabilized apartments must be offered renewal leases. The renewal lease can be for a term of one or two years, at the tenant’s choice and is at a rate set by the Rent Guidelines Board. The renewal lease offer must be made on a form created by or on a facsimile approved by the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR).

In New York City, the owner must give written notice of renewal by mail or personal delivery not more than 1...