HPD Publishes Annual Delinquent Resident Buildings List

New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) recently released the new list of residential buildings that have been placed into the agency’s Ninth Round of the Alternative Enforcement Program (AEP). The AEP is aimed at increasing the pressure on the owners of the city’s multifamily residential buildings that have fallen into disrepair, many of which are rent regulated, to bring the properties up to code so that the residents are not forced to live in substandard and hazardous conditions.

The 250 buildings identified in Round 9 carry a total of 6,492 non-hazardous (A-class), 20,543 hazardous (B-class), and 5,143 immediately hazardous (C-class) violations. Violations classified as non-hazardous, or A-class, include infractions such as minor leaks, chipping or peeling paint when no children under the age of 6 live in the home, or lack of signs designating floor numbers. Violations classified as hazardous include infractions such as public area doors not self-closing, inadequate lighting in public areas, or the presence of vermin. Generally, immediately hazardous violations include infractions such as inadequate fire exits, evidence of rodents, lead-based paint, and the lack of heat, hot water, electricity, or gas.

The owners of these properties owe the city a collective $980,000 Emergency Repair Program (ERP) charges. Also, HPD’s Housing Litigation Division (HLD) is currently active in 224 housing court cases against the owners of 138 of these buildings. The HLD caseload included, but was not limited to, cases for access warrants to allow HPD and their contractors onto some properties to perform repairs to immediately hazardous conditions, Comprehensive Cases seeking to correct all violations within a building and/or civil penalties, and Heat and Hot Water Cases in which HPD seeks an order to restore and maintain heat and hot water at a residential building and enact civil penalties.

To land on the list, the buildings have either 15 or more units and have a ratio of 3 or more open “class B” and “class C” violations per dwelling unit issued in the past five years, and paid or unpaid ERP charges equal to or more than $2,500 incurred in the past five years as of Jan. 31, 2016.

Buildings with between three and 14 units must have a ratio of five or more “class B” and “class C” violations per dwelling unit issued in the past five years and paid or unpaid ERP charges equal to or less than $5,000 incurred in the past five years as of Jan. 31, 2016.

The list can be viewed here.