Governor Cuomo introduced budget legislation (see page 415) this week calling for ending high rent/high income decontrol, repealing preferential rent provisions, and limiting major capital improvement charges “based on a report” to be prepared by the Division of Housing and Community Renewal on or after March 1st.
The Governor’s agenda, laid out in his State of the State address (pg 112 et seq), Tuesday, also includes enacting statewide legislation prohibiting source of income discrimination and limiting security deposits to one month on all apartments, not just regulated ones. He would also bar housing built with state aid from using credit scores to screen tenants.
Earlier in the week, the State Legislature passed legislation to limit political contributions by LLCs, a move aimed squarely at the real estate industry. Thebill is not completely clear, but limits any single LLC from contributing more than $5,000 and requires apportioning the contribution among members so that individual contribution limits can be enforced against members of multiple LLCs.
The local community board on Staten Island rejected the proposed Bay Streetrezoning while the City Planning Department began the process of developing a new plan for the SOHO/NOHO neighborhood…also likely to face community opposition.
New York City, this week, filed suit against a real estate brokerage it claims earned more than $20 million from illegal rentals on the Airbnb platform. And astudy funded by the Hotel Trades Council concluded that 45% of all New York Airbnb reservations last year were illegal, accounting for 66% of revenue.
The ABO Workers Compensation Safety Group this week declared a 22.5% dividend for 2018 in addition to the up-front 25% discount applied to premiums. ABO and CHIP members are eligible to participate in the group. Contact Matt Durnan if you are not already a member.
Registration for BuildingsNY 2019, April 2nd and 3rd at the Javits Center, is now open. CHIP and ABO will be holding seminars at the Show on new environmental laws, lead paint, and Albany’s actions on rent regulations. Click here to sign up for free.