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Four class action lawsuits were filed recently against three owners believed to be among the biggest abusers of the J-51 tax program in the city. The suits were filed in New York County Supreme Court after an investigation by the non-profit watchdog group, Housing Rights Initiative (HRI).

For years, the city has banned smoking in the common areas of buildings with 10 or more apartments. Beginning in February 2018, the city will extend this prohibition to include buildings with three or more units. In addition, Mayor de Blasio recently signed a measure into law that will require owners to write a policy explaining where smoking is permitted in their buildings, if at all, and to share these protocols in leasing documents beginning August 2018.

As a result of Local Law 69 of 2017, starting Nov. 6, 2017, all owners must attempt to obtain bedbug infestation history from tenants including any remedial or eradication methods. The new law requires owners to share written bedbug infestation histories with tenants on an annual basis. Notices posted in residential buildings or distributed to individual apartments must include the number of units in the building, the number of bedbug infestations reported in the last y...

Mayor Bill de Blasio recently proposed new mandates that would force building owners to make sharp reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The initiative would mandate that owners of existing buildings larger than 25,000 square feet invest in more efficient heating and cooling systems, insulation, and hot-water heaters in the years ahead. If approved by the City Council, the requirements would apply to about 14,500 private and municipal buildings, which the mayor’...

The DHCR recently issued Fact Sheet #45 pertaining to the housing rights of foreign-born tenants. It reminds owners about the laws regarding discrimination, harassment, and retaliation pertaining to immigrant tenants.

The New York City Council recently passed a package of bills intended to provide tenants greater protection from landlord harassment and unsafe conditions. Several of the bills redefine the legal parameters of tenant harassment. Some of the bills also change penalties for harassment. Others were drafted to increase tenant awareness of harassment protections through notice requirements, tenant protection plan requirements, and maintenance of a contractor watch list by th...

The New York City Council recently enacted legislation establishing a right to counsel for low-income tenants in Housing Court. Currently, the bill is awaiting the mayor’s signature before it can become law. The bill, Int. 214-A, was proposed more than two years ago but wasn’t brought before the full council for a vote at that time because some expressed concerns about costs. Since then, support for the bill had grown, with 42 co-sponsors from the 51-member ...

Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced a $32 million, multi-agency plan to reduce the city’s rat population that targets the three most infested parts of city: the Grand Concourse area, Chinatown/East Village/Lower East Side, and Bushwick/Bedford-Stuyvesant. This interagency initiative aims to reduce rat activity by up to 70 percent in the targeted zones by minimizing food sources and available habitats.

City Council speaker hopefuls are urging the de Blasio administration to support a lawsuit challenging the city’s property tax system. Council members Donovan Richards, Mark Levine, Corey Johnson, Ritchie Torres, and Jumaane Williams, all of whom, except Torres, have shown interest in running for Council speaker, have signed a letter saying it’s wrong for the city to oppose the lawsuit.

Steve Croman, an owner of 140 buildings who’s known for harassing his tenants, pleaded guilty recently to charges of fraudulently refinancing loans and committing tax fraud. Under the terms of his plea, Croman will serve one year on Rikers Island and is forced to pay a $5 million tax settlement.