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The Housing Our Neighbors With Dignity Act was recently passed by the New York State Legislature. It will allow some distressed hotels to be converted into permanent low-income housing units. Sponsored by Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris and Assemblymember Karines Reyes, the bill allows the state to partner with nonprofit organizations to finance the acquisition and conversion of distressed hotels and commercial office space into low-income housing.
On June 23, the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) voted 5-4 to freeze stabilized rents for the first six months of one-year leases beginning on or after Oct. 1, 2021, then raise them 1.5 percent for the next six months. The RGB also voted to raise rents on two-year leases by 2.5 percent. The new rates take effect for leases commencing between Oct. 1, 2021, and Sept. 30, 2022.
New York State’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) recently started accepting applications for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). The most recent federal stimulus program has funded the program with $2.7 billion.
The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) has made a new webpage live with information on the New York State rent relief program intended to prevent thousands of evictions by covering COVID-related arrears.
The DOB recently released a service update extending the energy benchmarking compliance deadline to June 1. Typically, the deadline for submitting benchmarking data for applicable buildings is May 1. According to the service update, the extension is due to a "technological deficiency."
An Albany judge recently declared New York state regulators’ attempt to ban tenants from paying landlords’ broker fees an “error of law.” The decision comes more than a year after the Department of State issued guidance banning the practice. That guidance offered regulators’ interpretation of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA), which became law in June 2019.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie recently announced an agreement on the FY2022 New York State Budget. The 2021-2022 State Budget includes $2.4 billion for the creation of a COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program. The program is funded by $2.3 billion in federal resources and $100 million of state resources to supplement the core program and target those facing hardship who may not otherwise ...
Five small landlords have sued New York Attorney General Letitia James. Attorneys for the group are arguing that the hardship declaration form is “unconstitutional compelled speech,” because it forces landlords to, in effect, voice support for a policy that is “squarely adverse” to their interests. The COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020 was signed into law by the governor on Dec. 28, 2020.
The DOB recently announced the launch of a seven-week façade and scaffold safety blitz. This campaign includes direct educational outreach to construction workers and industry professionals on scaffold safety, as well as inspection sweeps on façade work sites across the five boroughs. DOB inspectors will also now give construction contractors a detailed checklist of any deficiencies found with their scaffolding setup following required corner/angle scaffold safety inspe...
Housing advocates and Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) are calling for $2.2 billion to help struggling tenants and small landlords. Gianaris recently sent a letter calling on Gov. Cuomo to establish a Housing Stability Relief fund to pay owners for rent arrears and clear the debt of approximately 1.3 million households unable to make rent payments in the pandemic. Gianaris is the No. 2-ranked Democrat in the state Senate.
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