Management Basics

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The 2020–2021 “heat season” begins on Oct. 1 and continues through May 31, 2021. As heat season begins and colder weather is around the corner, owners must be aware of the temperature requirements for all apartments. HPD responds to all heat and hot water complaints and, if adequate heat and hot water conditions are not corrected, HPD will impose penalties and may contract with private companies under the Emergency Repair Program to restore services to...

The NYC Benchmarking Law, Local Law 84 of 2009 as amended by Local Law 133 of 2016, requires owners of large buildings to measure their energy and water consumption annually in a process called benchmarking. The law 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.

On Sept. 13, 2019, the DOB adopted a new Section 103-10 to Title 1 of the Rules of New York City, regarding the periodic inspection of gas piping systems. This was the culmination of a three-year long process to give effect to Local Law 152 of 2016, which requires periodic inspections of “building gas piping systems.”

Local Law 152 requires that all buildings with gas piping, except R-3 occupancy buildings (which are mostly one- and two-family dwelling...

The DHCR is currently administering a COVID Rent Relief Program that will provide eligible households with a one-time rental subsidy that will be sent directly to the owner. Applicants won’t need to repay this assistance. Applications will be accepted from July 16 through July 30.

If you’ve received a summons regarding a notice of violation from any city agency, you must follow certain procedures to respond. NYC’s Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings/Environmental Control Board (OATH) is the administrative tribunal that conducts hearings on notices of violation issued by city agencies. It’s responsible for summonses formerly heard by the Environmental Control Board (ECB).

The RGB freezes one-year renewal rents and sets a partial freeze for two-year renewals.

On June 17, in a 6 to 3 vote, the city’s Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) decided to freeze rents for rent-stabilized tenants with one-year leases. For two-year renewal leases, a 1 percent increase is allowed during the second year.

The freeze is the third one during Mayor de Blasio’s tenure. The first two occurred in 2015 and 2016 for one-year lease...

On June 22, New York City entered Phase 2 of Governor Cuomo’s phased approach to reopen industries and businesses in New York State. As part of Phase 2, real estate and rental-leasing industries are allowed to reopen their workplaces. This means brokerages, property managers, and development firms are allowed to conduct limited in-person operations as long as certain guidelines are followed.

You must file an Annual Apartment Registration application with the DHCR for every rent-stabilized apartment you own by July 31, 2020, 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 DOB’s Facade Inspection and Safety Program (FISP) is offering an amnesty period beginning July 1, 2020. The amnesty period will give owners who didn’t file (No Report Filed - NRF) a Façade Report during Cycle 8 the opportunity to administratively close Cycle 8 with the Cycle 9 report. The Cycle 8 reporting period ended Feb. 20, 2020.

Owners anticipating construction work in their occupied buildings must comply with Tenant Protection Plan (TPP) requirements and notices. These requirements came about in 2017 through a package of bills focusing on tenant harassment. At the time, among the bills signed into law was one for an Office of the Tenant Advocate within the Department of Buildings that monitors various protection plans for tenants and responds to complaints from tenants about construction probl...