Author Archives: abogny

Mayor de Blasio announced Monday that, due to increased tenant legal services, evictions dropped to a record 18,000 in 2018. But, on the same day, Council Speaker/Public Advocate Corey Johnson announced an interactive map of where evictions occur showing 19,970 evictions in 2018. And, … Continue reading →

Mayor de Blasio this week proposed lowering the allowable lead in paint to .5 micrograms per square centimeter, half the current level and below levels at which testing equipment is currently certified for accuracy. The City Council is also looking at a … Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading →

North Brooklyn landlords gave up between $6 million and $26 million in rent increases since the announcement in 2016 of an L train shutdown,  according to a StreetEasy analysis. Rents along the train line fell 1.5% while rents on new leases in … Continue reading →

Governor Cuomo said “all” of his 100-day legislative goals would be included in his State Budget proposal, presumably including ending luxury decontrol and other rent rule changes even though normally they wouldn’t be dealt with before the law sunsets in June. The … Continue reading →

The federal government shutdown over border-wall funding could mean late or reduced Section 8 voucher payments in January. The HUD program isn’t funded after the first of the year, but may use unspent authority from prior periods to fulfill obligations temporarily. The … Continue reading →

Governor Cuomo’s “100 Day” goals, announced Monday, include “ending vacancy decontrol, repealing preferential rent and limiting capital improvement charges.”   Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is also targetingpreferential rents, but wants to offset the loss with a tax break … Continue reading →

The New York City Council Housing Committee held hearings, Thursday, on 37 bills aimed at increasing penalties for violations by building owners, discouraging tenant buy-outs, and making it harder to get building permits. CHIP and ABO, along with industry partners, opposed most … Continue reading →

The programmers behind tenant complaint websites heatseek.org andjustfix.nyc have launched Who Owns What to help tenants identify all the properties owned by a single entity despite multiple LLCs. Using public records and relying on office addresses, it may be more reliable at finding agents than … Continue reading →

More than a dozen bills increasing the penalties for false statements onbuilding permit applications, increasing public availability of information about overcharges, requiring that tenants get copies of notices of violations, increasing DOB inspections, and other provisions affecting apartment operators were introduced in the New … Continue reading →