City Council Committee to hear testimony on a package of bills intended to strengthen protections for tenants subject to harassment by landlords. Since the mid-2000s and largely due to the housing bubble, predatory equity has become a metastasis on the New York City housing market. The expulsion of both rent stabilized and market-rate tenants is accomplished through means both legal, by abusing technical loopholes in State law, and illegal, by dangerous living conditions and intimidation.
Search Results for: Harassment
Former SRO exempt from City’s no harassment law
Building had been converted prior to passage of Local Law. Jennifer Walker purchased 151 West 76th Street, a five-story residential building in Manhattan, in 2002. That year, Walker applied to Buildings for permits to renovate three apartments and a terrace. Buildings determined that the building’s legal use was an SRO, requiring a certificate of no harassment from HPD before permits could be granted. Consequently, Buildings denied the permits.
AfterWalker sought a certificate from HPD and … <Read More>
HPD Relaunches HPD Online Site to Provide More Transparency for New Yorkers
On November 20, 2023, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced the relaunch of HPD Online, the agency’s platform for tenants, owners, and advocates to access information about where they live.
City Announces $4.2 Million Won in Settlement of Three Lawsuits Against Landlord
On October 26, 2023, Mayor Eric Adams announced that the city has now won around $4.2 million in three lawsuits against Daniel Ohebshalom, a/k/a Daniel Shalom, and his affiliates. This week, the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement (OSE) won $1.1 million in payments of penalties and fines from a settlement agreement. The city had sued Ohebshalom alleging that he was engaging in tenant harassment and illegal short-term rentals in three buildings in Midtown and Hell’s … <Read More>
City Launches Live Operator Tenant Hotline
The live helpline replaces the former helpline where tenants left messages and received callbacks. On July 17, 2023, the Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit (PEU) launched a live operator Tenant Helpline to better assist tenants experiencing housing crises. The new live call system will be a critical resource for New Yorkers facing eviction, harassment, or unacceptable living conditions and represents PEU’s ongoing commitment to maintaining and improving tenant support structures established during the pandemic.
HPD Releases Request for Proposals to Find Tenant Organizing Groups for Partners in Preservation Program
On March 22, 2023, the Department of Housing, Preservation and Development (HPD) announced the release of a request for proposals (RFP) for tenant organizing groups to expand the Partners in Preservation program. The program preserves rent-regulated housing units and supports tenant organizers who work with the agency and tenants to fight harassment, displacement, and poor living conditions.