Three-Quarter Housing: Council Seeks to Address Blight [UPDATE: City Council Approves Legislation]

UPDATE: On February 1, 2017, the City Council voted 47-0 to approve four bills that would help protect tenants of three-quarter houses in New York City. During the vote, Council Member Donovan Richards called three-quarter houses a wide spread problem that would not be cured by the bills and that the City would need to track progress on the issue to determine future responses. Council Member Ritchie Torres called predatory operators of three-quarter houses the … <Read More>


Council Passes Bill to Allow for Tenant Complaints and Inspections of Unoccupied Apartments

On December 6, 2023, the City Council voted to approve Int. 195-B, which creates a path for tenants to report housing maintenance code violations for unoccupied units in their buildings. The bill, sponsored by Council Member Carlina Rivera, provides a way for tenants to have their concerns addressed when conditions in unoccupied apartments are impacting tenants in other apartments. 


Owner Must Comply with HPD Order

HPD ordered owner to replace dangerous floor joists in residential building. In 2007 the New York City Council amended the Housing Maintenance Code and created the Alternative Enforcement Program. The Program authorized the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to conduct building wide inspections and to compel building owners to correct within four month their violations of the Housing Maintenance Code.



Comptroller Audit Reveals that HPD Failed to Collect $34.2 Million in Assessed Penalties

Comptroller’s audit finds that HPD’s collection efforts did not result in the collection of the vast majority of the money judgments referred to its Judgment Enforcement Unit. On November 17, 2016, the Office of the City Comptroller Scott Stringer released a report of an audit of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. The audit sought to evaluate HPD’s efforts in collecting outstanding money judgments resulting from assessed penalties.