Management Basics

How to Comply with DOB's Gas Piping Inspections Requirements

January 21, 2020    

In 2014 and 2015, New York City experienced two deadly gas explosions that prompted lawmakers to pass gas safety legislation in 2016. One explosion in March 2014 brought down two five-story apartment buildings in East Harlem, leaving more than 100 families homeless. And the other explosion...

DOF Publishes FY 2021 Tentative Assessment Roll

January 21, 2020    

On Jan. 15, the NYC Department of Finance (DOF) announced the publication of the tentative property assessment roll for fiscal year (FY) 2021, which shows the total market value of all NYC properties for the upcoming year at about $1.378 trillion, an increase of $62 billion, or 4.7 percent from...

Complete Annual Bedbug Reporting Requirement with HPD by Dec. 31

December 17, 2019    

As a result of Local Law 69 of 2017, apartment building owners are required to file bedbug infestation and treatment reports with HPD annually. When the law became effective, the initial due date for the filing was Jan. 31, 2019. Now, owners are required to file a Bedbug Annual Report between...

City Can Freeze SCRIE/DRIE Rent at Preferential Level

November 12, 2019    

The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) made it possible to freeze rents at preferential rates for qualifying New Yorkers. The de Blasio administration has released guidance regarding renter rights under the HSTPA. This guidance will allow New Yorkers who pay preferential rents...

Building Owner Heating Obligations as Heating Season Begins

October 11, 2019    

During the previous “heat season,” the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) fielded 232,621 heat complaints, an increase of 8.1 percent compared to the previous heat season. The current heat season begins on Oct. 1 and continues through May 31, 2020. During this...

DHCR Decreases A/C Rent Surcharge for 2019–20

October 11, 2019    

The Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) recently announced a decrease in this year’s air-conditioner rent surcharge for owners who pay for electricity. It set the monthly surcharge at $24.94, down $1.48 from $26.42 last year. This year’s decrease reflects a 5.61 percent...

DHCR Updates NYC Lease Rider and ETPA Standard Lease Addenda

September 19, 2019    

The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) of 2019, which went into effect on June 14, 2019, made numerous changes to the rent regulation laws. These changes required the DHCR to review and update the New York City Lease Rider [RA-LR1] and the Emergency Tenant Protection Act...

File 2019 Rent Registrations Online by July 31

June 20, 2019    

You must file an Annual Apartment Registration application with the DHCR for every rent-stabilized apartment you own by July 31, 2019, using the DHCR’s online Owner Rent Regulation Application system. As in past years, the penalty for not filing is stiff: You can’t collect a rent...

Large Building Owners to Submit Benchmarking Data by May 1

April 18, 2019    

Local Law 84 (LL84) requires owners of large buildings to annually measure their energy and water consumption in a process called benchmarking. LL84 standardizes this process by requiring building owners to enter their annual energy and water use in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...

File RPIE Statements by June 3

April 18, 2019    

The NYC Department of Finance (DOF) requires certain owners of residential properties to file the Real Property Income & Expense Statement (RPIE) every year. The DOF needs income and expense information each year to value your property accurately.

Check Whether Your J-51 Building Is on DHCR 'Problem' List

March 19, 2019    

The DHCR has recently posted a list of J-51 buildings with potentially problematic registration and deregulation issues.

The J-51 tax break program gives owners tax exemptions for carrying out rehabs and renovations of older, multi-dwelling buildings. Renovation work could include such...

Send Tenant 2019 DHCR Form If Rent Is $2,774.76 or More

February 22, 2019    

Rent-regulated apartments with a legal or maximum monthly rent that has reached or exceeded $2,774.76 may be petitioned for high-income rent deregulation. The Rent Act of 2015 amended the rent threshold for high-rent vacancy deregulation and high-income/high-rent deregulation by raising the...