BILL NUMBER: S4087

SPONSOR: PARKER
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the New York city charter, in relation
to willful neglect of real property prevention

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill provides for protection, preservation and improvement of rent
stabilized multi-family rental property in which some landlor ds will-
fully neglect repairs, improvements, or otherwise affected the existing
conditions of properties precipitating the conditions that reduce the
habitability of the units, resulting in condemnation and eviction of
existing tenants with the intent to build higher cost or luxury housing
in a climate wherein real property prices are rising at an unprecedented
rate.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Provides that HPD after three or more good faith complaints by or on
behalf of tenants and wherein within 120 days such conditions ha ve not
              

been addressed or remedied by the landlord; and following the consensus
of fifty percent or more of the tenants, the city shal l compel the
landlord or responsible entity to undertake repairs and/or cease in
actions that affect the safety and well-being of ten ants. Furthermore,
the bill provides that if the repairs are not completed or negative
actions have not ceased and if elements essent ial to the safety and
well-being of residents have not been replaced, the city shall place a
lien on the property equal to the costs of repairs, improvements,
replacements and treatment measures and administrative fees required to
remedy the property.

The bill further requires that HPD shall assess the costs of repair and
actions needed to make property habitable and safe and assign a communi-
ty based housing corporation to manage the repair process for a fee.
Financing of the repairs shall be made possible by a p ersonal income
tax revenue bond authorized by the New York state housing finance agen-
cy. The responsible landlord shall be responsibl e reimbursing the city
for the costs of repairs, interest, penalties and administrative manage-
ment fees to the community based housing corporation.

Should repairs require the relocation of tenants, the responsible party
will be responsible for finding comparable housing for the te nants in a
closely proximate area, at a comparable or lower rate and assume relo-
cation costs and should the rent be higher, the diffe rence between the
current rent and the rent at the relocated site.  Finally the bill
requires HPD to establish an imminent danger list of properties for
which more than five complaints, the nature of w hich pose a threat to
the health and safety of tenants, are filed during the course of a
calendar year.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

For a number of years, reports of willful neglect on the part of preda-
tory landlords appeared to be isolated and random against the b ackdrop
of thousands of rent-regulated properties. As the demand for housing and
increasing commensurate costs and development profit margins, the trend
to willfully debilitate the integrity of rent-regulated properties to

the point of condemnation leading to demolition for the purpose of
developing high income luxury units.

The desire to live in locations within or in proximity of Manhattan has
impacted housing in central/northeastern Brooklyn, from Flatb ush to
Bushwick; the western Bronx; Upper Manhattan, from East Harlem to Wash-
ington Heights; and Lower Manhattan, Chinatown and the Lower East
Side{1}.

The acts have included failure to maintain exterior walls, interior
walls, and boilers and as of late have escalated to outright acts of
demolition in the name of bogus non-sanctioned construction; removing
essential services i.e. water, heat, commodes; and threats of imminent
eviction without cause.

In 2014, Mayor DeBlasio established a ten-year housing $41 billion plan
that aspired to the creation or preservation of 200,000 affor dable
housing units, of which the budget as of 2018 was nearly $83 billion.
The actions of this group of landlords threatens to take the plan two
steps back for every step forward. Moreover, the displacement of the
affected tenants threatens to change the character of the targeted
communities with no possibility of reintegrating tenants in need of
affordable housing e.g. municipal employees, serv ice industry workers,
and health care providers ranging from the working poor to the middle
class. Justifiably, residents in these co mmunities are suspicious of
any development efforts in their neighborhoods maintaining that develop-
ment is being done to them without consideration and not with them in
consultation. The prevailing opinion is that a wave of secondary
displacement pressures, would ne gatively affect both long-term resi-
dents and existing businesses.(2)

{1} Metropolitan Council

{2} Michael McKee, treasure of Tenants Political Action Committee

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2017-18: S 3267- REFERRED TO CITIES 2015-16: 5.3990 - Referred to Cities

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately