I began reading the recent new rent laws; a 74 page document that I had received from one of my business associates and friends who owns property in and out of New York City.
These new laws will have a major impact on future conversions from being in a rental position to a cooperative or condominium; as well as those units that are rent control and rent stabilized, not only in New York City but, Nassau, Westchester and Rockland Counties. This will change the face and the playing field of how rentals must be carefully scrutinized and handled, with respect to rent increases, security deposits, evictions, rental deposits, what can orally be conveyed and what must be in writing to current and prospective future tenants and so much more; and it will have a far-reaching impact going forward, making it much more challenging and tougher for owners of buildings.
The new laws are far-reaching and few, if any, will be positively impacted, but many more will be negatively impacted, with the end results will being to have owners values of their properties, potentially decrease and then puts the future in question.
I have read a portion of the 74 page document and have found it quite ambiguous and confusing to say the least; but then again, I am not an attorney and am not able to provide any legal advice, but can always recommend an attorney that has the expertise to digest and interpret the new law, so you will be much more informed than you are currently (or you can go online and search for explanations).
I am quite sure some of you have already contacted your attorneys to have them explain and go over the new laws. If not, I would advise you to do so as soon as possible, otherwise, fines could be quite substantial by not following the rules and regulations that were passed by our state Senate and Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Cuomo on June 11.
I am an independent thinker and I somewhat understand both sides of the aisle, where the landlords at this point appear to be way over regulated; and the tenants seem to have much more protection through these new laws.
Being protected and safe from eviction is a much more comforting feeling, especially against those unscrupulous landlords, who will do anything for a buck and could care less about the human condition. But then again, what about those, what I call, “professional tenants” who abuse all the privileges afforded them in New York State (as mentioned in last week’s column) and those who have high incomes and hide them through cash or creative ways to avoid detection and that our regulators might look into often enough.
I am quite sure there are some or possibly a good amount of tenants in rent-controlled units who earn incomes that make them ineligible for rent control or stabilized apartments; who might be driving and hiding their expensive luxury vehicles.
Do the Division of Housing and Community Renewal carefully execute the laws and yearly check the incomes or do the tenants required to report changes in incomes, in those rent controlled and stabilized units?
Are records kept allowing the public to review those records through F.O.I.L. (Freedom of Information Law) or is this not allowed? Where are the checks and balances so neither the tenant nor the landlord abuse the law and/or privileges so everyone is on a level and fair playing field, so no one has the upper hand?
It appears to me that the new law is now so egregious against the “excellent landlords” by punishing them, instead of really going after those landlords that make it worse for those tenants that are being abused and falling by the wayside and disregarded, where heat is not sufficient, turned off, leaks in ceilings, no hot water, as the city hasn’t been able to even take care of their own housing units in a livable condition and now the new laws will further impact those landlords that have been trying to do the best they can and trying to earn a living in what was once a free market environment, now making it truly difficult and challenging to own rental buildings.
Sen. Michael Gianaris and many other Senators, who were for these new laws; as well as had a negative effect on Amazon leaving New York, in Long Island City. Just because they were given a three billion four hundred million tax credit to lure them to Long Island City but missing out on Amazon’s overwhelming positive financial impact that would have put an approximate twenty seven plus billion into our the New York City economy plus probably 100,000 future high paying jobs (and luring other businesses to relocate to New York City, etc., helping vendors, hotels, increase in the taxes collected over the long run, etc.) as well as the positive effects on the surrounding areas including Long Island.
I will discuss this in a future article showing why it was the biggest loss for New York in its history and a major blunder by our politicians.
If you want a copy of the new rent laws, I have them, if you want a free copy or you can go online and read about them. Here is a link to provide some insight into what has been passed and their impact:
New York rent laws: Cuomo signs bill to provide ‘strongest tenant protections in history’
Philip A. Raices is the owner/Broker of Turn Key Real Estate at 3 Grace Ave Suite 180 Great Neck. He has earned designations as a graduate of the Realtor Institute and a certified international property specialist.
He can be reached by email, at:Phil@TurnKeyRealEstate.Com, or by cell: (516) 647-4289.
