New York’s Ten Worst Landlords, Part 2

Village Voice

3-24-10

How many bad landlords are there in New York City?  Who can count that high? But we can count to 10, so we assembled this group of really bad landlords—listed in no particular order—only after months of research. We combed through records of unresolved violations, lawsuits, eviction notices, and court documents. We spent thousands of hours in deeply depressing apartments and interviewed wave after wave of equally gloomy tenants.  Read more: http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-03-24/news/new-york-s-ten-worst-landlords-part2/

Housing Here and Now — Real Rent Reform Campaign LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM FOR 2010

NO MORE DELAYS – STRONGER RENT LAWS NOW!
February 2010
 
The New York State Legislature must enact a number of reforms to undo years of giveaways to the New York City real estate lobby that have exacerbated the housing crisis in the city and suburban counties. The following represent the absolute minimum of necessary reform.
 
Full Repeal of Vacancy Decontrol
S2237-A (Andrea Stewart-Cousins, et al.)/A2005 (Linda Rosenthal et al.)
Repeals vacancy decontrol, which has already cost New York City and the suburban counties of Nassau, Westchester and Rockland Counties an estimated 300,000 apartments that have been removed from rent and eviction protections and are no longer affordable. The bill also re-regulates most of the apartments that were deregulated in the last 15 years.
 
Adequate protections for former Mitchell-Lama
& Section 8 Tenants
S3326-A (Andrea Stewart-Cousins, et al.)/A9230 (Linda Rosenthal et al.)
Provides for rent stabilization coverage for all Mitchell-Lama and project-based Section 8 buildings that leave or have left government supervision, regardless of when constructed or first occupied. The bill further prohibits landlords from seeking rent increases for “unique or peculiar circumstances.” This is the only bill with rent protections for post-1973 buildings that have already left government supervision and did not then become rent regulated.
 
Renewal of expiring rent and coop protection laws
S6881 (Serrano)/A9967 (Kavanagh) Renews state rent and coop laws that expire June 15, 2011, to June 15, 2014.
 
Reform Major Capital Improvement Rent Increase System
S745-A (Liz Krueger, et al.)/A1928 (Daniel O’Donnell, et al.)
Makes rent increases for building-wide Major Capital Improvements temporary surcharges, so that once tenants have paid them off, the rent increase disappears. The MCI must be listed as a separate surcharge on the rent bill, rather than being compounded with the base rent.
 
Reform Individual Apartment Improvement
Rent Increase System
S5296 (Daniel Squadron, et al.)/A5316-A (Sheldon Silver, et al.)
Reforms the 1/40th rent increase loophole: (1) lengthens the amortization period from 40 to 84 months, thus bringing it into line with the MCI program. (2) allows direct agency oversight to discourage fraud. (3) strengthens tenant notification.
 
Reform Owner Use Evictions Loophole
S2642-A (Daniel Squadron, et al.)/A1685-A (Vito Lopez et al.)
Closes one of the worst loopholes in the NYC rent stabilization: landlords can recover “one or more” apartments for use by the landlord or a family member. Owners have emptied entire buildings. This bill limits recovery to one apartment, and requires the landlord to demonstrate “immediate and compelling necessity” as in NYC rent control and suburban rent laws.                                                                                                                      … over …
 
Reform Preferential Rent Loophole
S2251 (Liz Krueger, et al.)/A465-A (Hakeem Jeffries, et al.)
Closes another bad loophole that allows a landlord of a rent-stabilized unit to rent to a new tenant at a “preferential” rent lower than the legal rent, then later offer the tenant a renewal lease based on the legal rent, hitting tenants with huge rent increases, sometimes several hundred dollars, often forcing them to vacate. The landlord then collects another 20 percent statutory vacancy bonus and engages in this scam all over again with a new tenant, while steadily moving the legal rent closer to the $2,000 per month threshold for vacancy decontrol. A465 allows the landlord to revert to the higher legal rent upon vacancy, but requires that the lease be renewed based on the lower preferential rent.
 
Reduce the Statutory Vacancy Bonus
S6084 (José M. Serrano)/A1686 (Vito Lopez et al.)
Reduces statutory vacancy bonus from minimum of 20 percent for a two-year vacancy lease to a minimum of 10 percent, and limits collection to once a year.
 
Moratorium on Mitchell-Lama Buyouts
S2171 (Thomas Duane, et al.)/A6706 (Jonathan Bing, et al.)
Imposes an 18-month moratorium on Mitchell-Lama buyouts of rentals and coops, and requires DHCR to prepare a report to the Legislature with recommendations for how to preserve Mitchell-Lama housing.
 
Reform the NYC and Suburban Rent Boards
S5566 (Thomas Duane)/A5282 George Latimer, et al.)
Restructures the four rent guidelines boards in NYC and the three suburban counties (originally designed by the real estate industry itself) to level the playing field and give tenants at least a chance of fair rent adjustments. Among the most important changes is a requirement for City Council approval of appointments by NYC mayor.
 
Rent relief for New Yorkers Living with HIV/AIDS
S2664 (Thomas Duane)/A2565 (Deborah Glick et al.)
Provides that persons living with clinical/symptomatic HIV or AIDS, and who receive shelter assistance or emergency shelter allowance, shall no longer have to pay more than 30 percent of household monthly unearned and/or earned income towards rent and utilities.
 
Restore Full Home Rule to New York City
S749 (Liz Krueger, et al.)/A1688 (Vito Lopez et al.)
Repeals the so-called Urstadt Law of 1971, named for Governor Nelson Rockefeller’s housing commissioner Charles J. Urstadt, and by doing so restores full home rule powers over rent and eviction laws to the New York City Council and Mayor.
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
 
Housing Here and Now
Michael McKee                       (917) 669-2977                mmckee@housinghereandnow.org
 
Met Council on Housing
Mario Mazzoni                        (212) 979-6238, ext. 200                      mario@metcouncil.net
 
NYS Tenants& Neighbors Coalition
Giti Dadlani                            (212) 608-4320, ext. 316                             gdadlani@tandn.org

No More “Affordable” Housing Scams! (NO MAHS)

Saturday, March 27th 
9:30 AM to 5:00 PM
Hunter College West (8th Floor)
Take #6 to 68th Street ­ Hunter College

NO MAHS is a forum for housing activists, tenants, squatters, community organizers and homeless people to discuss radical strategies for accessing, securing, and preserving land, community space, and truly affordable housing.  The housing crisis will not be solved with band-aids!
 
PROGRAM FEATURES:
Setting the Context:  Tom Angotti, Peter Marcuse and Frances Goldin
Tactics for Control of Community Land:
Community Land Trusts:  James Tracy and Alice Liu (San Francisco CLT) Limited
Equity Coops:  Jessica Hall (HDFC), Marina Metalios (UHAB)
 
Participatory Budgeting:  Josh Lerner (The Participatory Budgeting Project)
Community Planning:  Esther Wang (CAAAV), Julie Lawrence (Community-Based Planning Campaign) Mutual Housing Associations:  Val Orselli (Cooper Square)
Squatting and Occupations:  Frank Morales, Rob Robinson (Picture the Homeless)
 
Purchase lunch on-site ($7.00) or bring your own.
Let us know if you’re in need of childcare or translation services.
To RSVP or for more information, contact:  212-650-3328 or communitylandnyc@gmail.com

Utilizing the Services of the New York Housing Authority (NYCHA)

On the web at www.nyc.gov/housing or http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycha/html/home/home.shtml

This is the largest public housing system in the United States.  It operates 345 public housing developments containing about 181,892 apartments throughout the five boroughs in NYC.  There are over 8,000 apartments that turn over every year.  Listed below are the eligibility criteria and the steps to apply for public housing.

Eligibility:

• Resident of New York City at the time of application
• Annual income must not be greater than 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI).  For a family of 4, median income is $62,400 per year.
• No record of illegal druge use within a one year period.
• No criminal convictions.

Within the above income guidelines, priority codes are assigned based on the following (among others): if you are a “working family,” homeless, a domestic violence victim, or disabled living in unsafe housing conditions.  If your income is between 50% to 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI), you fall into a high priority category and could possible gain housing within a 6-month to one-year waiting period.  In the public housing process, you have the option to choose your borough and your development.

Applications can be obtained in person or requested by mail at any NYCHA Borough Application office.  Please go to the website to find the locations of the borough application offices or call 311.  There is a long wait for them to process your application.  If you have not heard from the agency, you must update your application every two years.  Applications not updated will expire three years from the date of filing, unless the applicant has been called for an interview.

Process:

• Fill out an application 
• Eligibility interview for all household members. Interviews are scheduled based on priority coding, date of application and availability of apartment size.  Waiting time tends to be shorter for families who qualify for smaller apartments (2-bedroom or less)
• Applicant’s family size and composition, housing priority, total family income and citizenship are determined.
• If family is found to be eligible, they go through the screening process. 

There are three steps:

1. a criminal background check for all household members over the age of 16.
2. a contact with current and/or previous landlord
3. a home visit is conducted by an outside contractor

If found eligible, the applicant is given a priority code and permitted to choose a development.  Once an opening is available in that development, the applicant will be certified to the project.  NYCHA anticipates that the certification process and move in takes 6 to 9 months.

Source: Actors Equity Fund.  Affordable Housing Information. 13^th Edition