Management Basics

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The DHCR recently updated Policy Statement 2014-1, which details the filing requirements upon the vacancy of rent-controlled apartments. The automatic rent stabilization coverage has not been changed. If your building has six or more units, a decontrolled apartment automatically falls under rent stabilization when the new tenant signs a lease. The DHCR will continue to regulate the apartment’s rent and the services you must provide.

The Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) recently announced a cut in this year’s air-conditioner rent surcharge for owners who pay for electricity. It set the monthly surcharge at $26.65, down from $28.94 last year. This year’s decrease reflects the decrease in the price of electricity for electrical inclusion buildings as calculated by the Rent Guidelines Board’s 2015 Price Index of Operating Costs issued in April 2016.

During the previous “heat season,” the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) fielded 200,904 heat complaints. The current heat season begins on Oct. 1 and continues through May 31, 2017. During this time period, residential building owners with tenants are required by law to maintain certain indoor temperatures when the outdoor temperature falls below a certain point.

If you sign a vacancy lease with a tenant between Oct. 1, 2016, and Sept. 30, 2017, the new order issued on June 27 by the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB)—RGBO #48—lets you collect the vacancy increases permitted under the Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1997 (RRRA).

On June 27, the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) voted for a 0 percent increase on one-year leases, and a 2 percent increase on two-year leases. The nine-member board voted 7-0, with two abstentions from the members representing the interests of landlords, to approve a 0 percent increase on one-year leases, and a 2 percent increase on two-year leases. This is the same decision as last year.

From time to time, you may need to ask the DHCR for certain information or documents. For example, you may be defending against a reduced services complaint and want to see the DHCR inspection report, or you may want a printout of all cases currently pending at the DHCR for a building you’ve just bought. Or you may want to obtain copies of all prior MCI orders that relate to your building to check the age of equipment being replaced. If so, you can get this inform...

You must file an Annual Apartment Registration application with the DHCR for every rent-stabilized apartment you own by July 31, 2016, using the DHCR’s online Owner Rent Regulation Application system. As in past years, the penalty for not filing is stiff: You can’t collect a rent increase—or even apply for one—until you file.

The NYC Department of Finance (DOF) requires certain owners of residential properties to file the Real Property Income & Expense Statement (RPIE) every year. The DOF needs income and expense information each year to value your property accurately.

Local Law 84 (LL84) requires owners of large buildings to annually measure their energy and water consumption in a process called benchmarking. LL84 standardizes this process by requiring building owners to enter their annual energy and water use in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) online tool, ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, and use the tool to submit data to the city. Building owners are subject to a penalty if usage data isn’t submitted by ...

Rent-regulated apartments with a legal or maximum monthly rent that reaches or exceeds $2,700 as of May 1, 2016, may be petitioned for High Income Rent Deregulation this year. The Rent Act of 2015 amended the rent threshold for high-rent vacancy deregulation and high-income high-rent deregulation by raising the threshold from $2,500 to $2,700. The threshold will be adjusted annually by the one-year renewal lease guideline percentage increase issued the prior year by the...