New City and State registration, inspection and cleaning requirements for cooling towers were enacted this week in response to the outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease that has killed 12 people. The City requirements are similar to the State’s, but separate. Apparently two registrations and reports must be filed. Meanwhile, the Opera House Hotel in the Bronx which was determined to be the source of the outbreak, claimed that its new tower was being maintained in accordance with the new requirements even before the outbreak.
The City Council passed three bills, Intros. 757A, 682A, and 700A, regulating tenant buyouts. The Mayor is expected to sign them. The legislation requires notice to tenants of their rights, including a new right not to be contacted again about a buyout offer for 180 days, and defines repeated offers as harassment. Ironically, the New York Times reported this week on a tenant holdout on Sutton Place who was offered $1 million to leave so a new building could be built. He sounded resistant to, but not harassed by, the offer.
The de Blasio administration seems to be lukewarm on the 8-year-old effort to redevelop Willets Point, declining to join the City-chosen development team in defending a court challenge to the project…or maybe, as some pundits thought, it is just a negotiating tactic to reopen the deal and get more affordable housing sooner from the developers. In any case, it is another example of the deal-by-deal, project-by-project approach the Mayor seems to be taking to housing generally.
Speaking of deals, anyone selling co-ops or condos should be aware of new federal disclosure rules for consumer loans going into effect October 3rd. The familiar HUD-1 Settlement Statement will be replaced by a new “Loan Estimate” and “Closing Disclosure.” The notices must be provided three days in advance and an increase in interest of one eighth on a fixed rate mortgage or a quarter point on an adjustable, or a switch from fixed to adjustable, could trigger a new three day notice – delaying closing.
Please join us September 10th for the CHIP/ABO seminar on Decoding the Rent Act of 2015, from 9:30 a.m to 12:30 at the CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue. Space is limited. Registration is required. Call 212 838-7442.
Members are also welcome at a reception and program on funding sources for energy improvements sponsored by CHIP and Original Energy, from 3 to 6 p.m. September 17th at Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue. RSVP to rsvp@chipnyc.org.