New Department of Buildings regulation blocks owners of residential buildings with a high proportion of hazardous violations from obtaining new construction permits
Mayor de Blasio joined Department of Buildings (DOB) Commissioner Melanie E. La Rocca today to announce new restrictions for landlords with multiple violations for unsafe or hazardous conditions. This new measure allows DOB to deny new construction permit applications at properties where landlords may be using poor building maintenance as a tool to harass their tenants.
These changes build off the legislation sponsored by Council Member Justin Brannan and passed by the Council, Local Law 104 of 2019.
DOB will create and maintain a list of multiple dwellings in New York City with excessive, open, and hazardous DOB and Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) violations in relation to the number of residential units. The list will be updated daily. Buildings placed on this list will be prevented from obtaining new permits until the violations are resolved and the conditions are corrected, except in situations where permits are necessary to correct a violation or other select circumstances.
“Safe, livable, fair housing starts with accountability – and New York City will not let landlords take advantage of their tenants without consequences,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “These restrictions will encourage faster and more thorough fixes to poor building maintenance. This city is proud to stand with tenants who deserve responsive management.”
“We are looking out for tenants and pushing landlords to take responsibility for their properties,” said Buildings Commissioner Melanie E. La Rocca. “This new measure sends a clear message to bad actors: No more business as usual. It’s past time to bring your existing buildings into compliance and derelict buildings up to code.”
“This Administration is using all its tools to protect tenants and hold landlords accountable. These new measures will help us ensure that owners are making necessary repairs for existing tenants before beginning other construction work,” said HPD Commissioner Louise Carroll. “We’re grateful to DOB for their ongoing partnership in protecting New Yorkers and making sure they have safe, quality housing.”
The permit restriction, which begins today, will apply to violations issued on or after January 4, 2020, the date Local Law 104 of 2019 went into effect. Restrictions will address violations that have not been certified as having been resolved with DOB or cleared by HPD. The permit denials will be applied to buildings with the following ratios of violations to dwelling units:
· Buildings with 35 or more dwelling units and two or more violations for every unit;
· Buildings with fewer than 35 dwelling units and three or more violations for every unit.
The permit restrictions will also be applied to submissions in the Department’s DOB NOW portal in the near future.
New Yorkers are encouraged to call 311 to report any hazardous living conditions or to report non-compliant or unsafe construction conditions. For more resources, tenants can also visit the Department’s Office of the Tenant Advocate (OTA) page.
No comments:
Post a Comment