BILL NUMBER: S8461

SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act relating to protecting the rights of current
and converted Mitchell-Lama residents

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill would require the New York City Department of Housing to
designate an independent agency or office, with no financial or working
relationship with the owners, management companies; and co-op boards
should be responsible for reviewing and investigating complaints filed
by all Mitchell-Lama residents. This independent agency or office should
be empowered to receive, investigate, mediate, hear, make findings and
recommend action, and make a decision on complaints against landlords,
managing agents, co-op boards. When relevant, the independent agency or
office will also adjudicate complaints filed by residents, against the
units or departments within the New York City Housing Preservation and
Development and Division of Housing and Community Renewal that currently
supervise their Mitchell-Lama developments. Residents who allege abuse
of authority or lack of response to their complaints, should be granted
a process to have complaints and grievances heard and resolved fairly
              

and in an unbiased manner. An independent agency's or office's investi-
gative staff should conduct their investigations in an impartial fash-
ion, make a recommendation and/or decision regarding the resident
complaint. Any recommendation or decision in the resident's favor should
also provide guidance to the resident directing them how to enforce the
independent agency's or office's decision.  That independent agency or
office should then forward their official findings and decisions to the
NYS DHCR Commissioner, who has jurisdiction over all Mitchell-Lama hous-
ing companies in New York City and New York State.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The Mitchell-Lama program provides affordable rental and cooperative
housing to moderate-and middle-income families. The program was spon-
sored by New York State Senator MacNeil Mitchell and Assemblyman Alfred
Lama, and was signed into law in 1955, and is regulated by Article 2 and
Article 4 of the Private Housing Finance Laws of New York State. There
are both New York City supervised Mitchell-Lama developments (HPD), and
New York State supervised Mitchell-Lama developments (DHCR). In New York
City, there are 97 HPDsupervised Mitchell-Lama rental and limited-equity
cooperative developments, with more than 45,300 total units, each devel-
opment is administered by either a Board of Directors (cooperatives) or
a Managing Agent (rental and cooperatives).

When filing a complaint against a landlord, co-op board or management
agent, residents in city supervised Mitchell-Lamas are left with no
alternative than to contact HPD's Mitchell-Lama Unit, who has no estab-
lished procedures for resident complaints, official reviews, determi-
nations, findings and appeals process of HPD's decisions. Even if a
process were to be implemented, the agency would be hard pressed to
decide against a landlord, co-op board or management agency because of
the co-dependent, financial relationship that exists between HPD, and
the owners/managing agents.

In state supervised Mitchell-Lamas developments under the jurisdiction
of the NYS Division of Housing & Community Renewal (DHCR), residents can
file complaints against a landlord, co-op board or managing agent via a
toll-free hotline. DHCR's Office of Housing Management is the department
selected to respond to those complaints. According to established proce-
dures, those residents can register complaints about their rents, their
apartments, building, or complex twenty-four hours per day. Although the
New York State DHCR has a process to accept or solicit a complaint from
a resident, there are no procedures established for findings, recommen-
dations, decisions and appeals. As a result, the DHCR "complaint proc-
ess" is useless to the residents.  Because HPD and DHCR representatives
often work directly with developers, owners and managing agents on a
variety of development projects, this relationship creates a conflict of
interest when reviewing complaints against landlords, managing agents
and co-op boards.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

None

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

To be determined

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.