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On Aug. 12, 2020, New York State Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks issued a memorandum revising the procedure for both residential and commercial eviction proceedings. This guidance comes a week after Governor Cuomo issued Executive Order 202.55 extending New York’s eviction moratorium and the state’s protections for tenants who have faced financial hardships related to COVID-19 by 30 days, through Sept. 4.
Tenants are still on the hook to pay back rent owed, but you may have to work out a payment plan....
On June 30, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the New York Tenant Safe Harbor Act. The new law, sponsored by New York State Senators Brad Hoylman and Liz Krueger and State Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz, provides protection from eviction to residential tenants in the state who have experienced financial hardship during the COVID-19 State of Emergency.
The RGB freezes one-year renewal rents and sets a partial freeze for two-year renewals.
On June 17, in a 6 to 3 vote, the city’s Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) decided to freeze rents for rent-stabilized tenants with one-year leases. For two-year renewal leases, a 1 percent increase is allowed during the second year.
The freeze is the third one during Mayor de Blasio’s tenure. The first two occurred in 2015 and 2016 for one-year leases. This last vote was the first time the board approved a freeze for any portion of two-year leases.
We explain which tenants are protected and how to let tenants tap security deposits for rent.
On May 7, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into effect New York State Executive Order No. 202.28, extending the eviction moratorium from June 20 through Aug. 20. The moratorium prevents owners from filing eviction proceedings for the nonpayment of rent against both residential and commercial tenants.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the local health department have encouraged workers who are sick to stay home. Benefits such as sick leave and family leave can help employees follow these guidelines during this precarious time. Currently, there are no national standards on paid family or sick leave. The current system is a patchwork of federal, state, local policies along with those that have been negotiated through labor contracts.
Most owners know that NYC’s façade inspection safety program (FISP), formerly known as Local Law 11, requires periodic inspections of a building’s exterior façades. These inspection requirements were initiated in response to fatal injuries from falling masonry. Most recently, in December 2019, a pedestrian was fatally struck by falling building debris. In response, the DOB doubled its façade inspection staff and conducted a sweep of 1,331 façades previously deemed unsafe or cited for repairs, resulting in 220 violations.
The de Blasio administration recently released a draft report that outlined plans to promote fair housing in New York City for the next five years. The impetus for the “Where We Live” report began during the Obama administration when the federal government wanted to strengthen enforcement of the Fair Housing Act. Under the 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule (AFFH), the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) moved to require states and cities to study how their housing policies affect segregation.
Last April, the New York City Council passed the Climate Mobilization Act, a package of legislation aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from NYC buildings and improving their energy efficiency. The goal of the new law is to reduce overall carbon emissions 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050. There are several compliance deadlines along that timeline, the first being 2024. Between now and then, owners of buildings larger than 25,000 square feet need to begin planning for possible retrofits and energy efficiency upgrades.
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