Good Cause Eviction Likely Excluded from State Budget
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WE HOUSE NEW YORK April 2022 | VOL. 41 ISSUE 4
Good Cause Eviction Likely Excluded from State Budget
Controversial Bill Could Gain Steam After Holidays
Although Good Cause Eviction was sidelined throughout the Members to withdraw any support of the legislation.
negotiations to pass the State budget, an amended bill could very In order to prepare for the anticipated push by progressive and
well gain momentum before the legislative session ends in June. anti-owner lawmakers to pass some version of Good Cause Eviction
As we announced in last month’s issue of the RSA Reporter, Senate between the end of April and early June, HFAANY will launch the
Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker second phase of our public relations campaign during the first week
Carl Heastie both acknowledged that the existing Good Cause of April and it will extend through the end of May. This will include
Eviction bill from Senator Julia Salazar, as it is currently written, additional digital and radio ads, three new rounds of mailings to
does not have the support it needs to pass the Legislature. Because different Senate and Assembly districts throughout the State, patch-
of this, as well as pressure from Governor Kathy Hochul to pass an through calling to additional Senators and Assembly Members, text
on-time State budget at the beginning of April, all signs pointed to message notifications, and a VoterVoice campaign administered
Good Cause Eviction being excluded from the budget as we went through RSA. Those who regularly receive our VoterVoice emails
to press. As a result, we anticipate that there are discussions and will receive the notifications when they are sent out. Additionally,
negotiations taking place behind the scenes to amend the language we will also provide a click-through link to the VoterVoice campaign
of the bill in an attempt to garner additional support from lawmakers through RSA email blasts that will be shareable with other property
who have given the current bill a lukewarm response. owners.
Any of these major negotiations would likely happen between As you have seen over the past year, VoterVoice has become one
April 25th and the end of May. For most of the month of April, the of our most effective tools and played a significant role when we
Legislature will be out of session in observance of the Passover were able to stop the controversial criminal background check
and Easter holidays. Once the Legislature reconvenes on April from passing at the City Council. Because our VoterVoice account
25th, they will be in Albany until the session concludes on June 2nd. is public, this allows our members to share the campaign link to
Because of the statewide primary election on June 28th, we expect friends and family throughout the entire State. Once the campaign
a hard legislative stop in early June so that Senators and Assembly officially launches in April, we encourage our members to do this
Members who are facing primary challengers can return to their once again.
districts to campaign. Although we will have additional updates on Good Cause Eviction
In the meantime, RSA’s joint coalition known as Homeowners in next month’s issue of the Reporter, it is crucial that you keep
for an Affordable New York (HFAANY) has done an excellent your eyes open for updates via email blast over the next few
job with regard to educating the public about how devastating Good weeks. If you are not subscribed to RSA’s email blast list, please
Cause Eviction would be if it were to become law. This has certainly email Vito Signorile, RSA’s Vice President of Communications, at
had an impact on the direction of the current bill, effectively stopping vsignorile@rsanyc.org to have your email registered today. n
premature enactment by encouraging Senators and Assembly
IN THIS ISSUE:
1 Good Cause Eviction Likely Excluded from State Budget 11 .DSNY S.A.F.E. Disposal Events Return for the Spring
2 President’s Message 13 Required Signs to Post Throughout Your Buildings
CITY & STATE ROUNDUP INSIDE RSA
3 .Deliberations for RGB Order 54 Commence 4 .RSA Congratulates Barbara Newsome on Her Retirement
4 .Legislature Budget Plans Include Plethora of 5 .A Message from RSA Membership Director Michael Tobman
Rental Assistance IN THE COURTS
6 .Owners Must Begin Filing RPIE Statements & 9 .Housing Court Resumes Limited In-Person Hearings
Rent Roll Addendums 9 Recent Court Decisions of Note
8 .OTDA Continues to Make Progress Distributing 16 Calendar of Events
Obligated FundsPRESIDENT’s message
RGB Season is Upon Us guidelines enacted by the Board, he has always been receptive
Aside from the draconian measures taken by the to building owner concerns since he first came on the Board as
Legislature to strengthen the State’s rent laws a Public Member in 2017. Over these years, RSA has developed
since 2015, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Rent Guidelines a close and productive relationship with Chairman Reiss and we
Board (RGB) has made owning rent-stabilized expect to continue that positive relationship throughout this year’s
Joseph Strasburg
property in New York City a living hell over the deliberations.
last eight years. As of now, this year’s meetings will continue to be held virtually.
As this year’s RGB deliberations commence, we must leave three Regardless of how the public hearings will be held in June, we will
rent freezes and historically-low rent guidelines in the past. As be calling on our members once again to testify before the Board.
harmful as they have been to our industry, we must focus on the Under Mayor de Blasio, we understand that there might have been
present and future under a new administration and treat this as a lack of motivation to testify when rent guidelines were oftentimes
a fresh opportunity to make our case for adequate rent guideline predetermined. However, with new Board Members this year, as
increases. well as an anticipated hands-off approach by City Hall, this is a
great opportunity for our members to talk about how inadequate
Although Mayor Eric Adams typically supports pro-tenant
guidelines, increased operating expenses, the 2019 rent laws, and
measures, he has always been a firm believer in a fair balance of
the pandemic, have all impacted your ability to properly invest in
building owner and tenant needs, which is required in order to
and maintain your buildings.
ensure that the City’s aging affordable stock can remain healthy.
While Mayor Adams has stated that he would support a rent freeze, The May and June issues of the Reporter will once again provide
he did say that he would only do so if the data supported it. This is you with all of the important information that you will need to
a far cry from his predecessor, who publicly encouraged the Board know for RGB Order 54. This is our chance to fight together for the
Members, who he appointed in order to satisfy his political agenda, rent guideline increases that you all desperately need.
to approve rent freezes and low guidelines. Updates from Albany
The RGB is mandated to act independently of City Hall and enact In this issue, you will read about various updates with regard to
guidelines based on data provided by staff reports. Prior to de Good Cause Eviction and the upcoming State budget, which could
Blasio, the Board honored their mandate for 45 years. We are not very well include a hefty amount of funding for rental assistance.
in any way asking Mayor Adams to advocate on our behalf through Aside from RGB-related matters, our hands will be full with
the RGB, we simply request that the Board is allowed to do their various statewide matters until the end of the Legislative session in
job once again and make their determinations based solely on data early June. By now, you should be well aware that our goals could
that reflects the current state of the City’s stabilized housing stock. not be any clearer: prevent Good Cause Eviction from passing in
Although we had not received confirmation as we went to press any capacity and ensure that building owners are provided with
with this issue of the RSA Reporter, we were expecting at least additional assistance to help alleviate the financial wounds caused
two new Board Members to be appointed by Mayor Adams. This by the pandemic.
included a new Public Member and a new Tenant Member after The next few issues of the Reporter, as well as our weekly email
tenant attorney Leah Goodridge resigned at the end of 2021. blasts, will keep you up to speed with all of these matters and
Additionally, it was expected that existing RGB Chairman David provide important information that details how our members can
Reiss would be retained for at least another year. It is important to assist in these efforts. n
note that although Chairman Reiss voted in favor of the most recent
Rent Stabilization Association ♦ 123 William Street New York, NY 10038-3804 ♦ http://www.rsanyc.org ♦ (212) 214-9200
Disclaimer: Every effort is made to provide accurate and up-to-date information in RSA publications and bulletins. However, information or advice
provided in these publications should not be taken as legal opinions. Always consult your attorney when in doubt. The RSA Reporter is intended for
the exclusive use of RSA members. This publication may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the written permission of the RSA. The RSA
welcomes comments, suggestions and questions from its members.
Editor: Vito Signorile Production: Christine Chu. Copyright 2022, Rent Stabilization Association of N.Y.C., Inc., 123 William Street, NY, NY 10038.
The RSA Reporter (ISSN #1089-9375) is published monthly (except August) by the Rent Stabilization Association of N.Y.C., Inc., 123 William
Street, New York, NY 10038-3804. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The RSA Reporter, 123 William Street, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10038-3804.
2 | April 2022CITY & STATE ROUNDUP
Deliberations for RGB Order 54 Commence
Volunteers Needed for Critical Research Project
Deliberations for Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) Order 54 are for a variety of rent-stabilized apartments throughout the City.
officially underway after the Board met for the first time at the end Over the years, we have argued that RGB data collecting methods
of March to discuss staff reports. are flawed and outdated. We believe that this analysis project
Although this issue of the RSA Reporter went to press before we will paint a better picture of expense and revenue trends faced by
could report on the Board’s first meeting on March 31st, RSA was building owners when factoring in the impact of the pandemic,
in touch with RGB staff regularly throughout the month of March rent freezes and inadequate rent guidelines, and the HSTPA.
to discuss the upcoming deliberations. At the first meeting, the A team from HR&A Advisors, Inc. (HR&A) is supporting us in
Board was expected to, at a minimum, release the 2022 Income this effort. HR&A is seeking to collect data directly from owners and
and Expense (I&E) Study. The data released by this report will be operators of rent-regulated apartments in New York City. To get
critical in determining the true financial impact of the COVID-19 a better understanding of the current state of the performance of
pandemic on building owners throughout 2020. these buildings, they are collecting TC-201 (building financial
For eight years under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, the tenant- forms filed with the NYC Tax Commission), which will
friendly public members on the Board consistently focused on be anonymized and compiled into a dataset to provide a better
owner net operating income (NOI), which has increased 14 out of understanding of current conditions across a range of buildings
the last 15 years. Despite two consecutive rent freezes in 2015 and citywide.
2016, many members on the Board continued to argue that building To facilitate batch processing of the TC-201 forms, HR&A requests
owner revenue remained stable despite zero or low guideline that each submission come in a typed PDF, and in an interactive
increases. In fact, the one year that NOI decreased was in 2020, format (fillable PDF) if possible. PDFs with typed responses
a direct result of these historically low guidelines. Unfortunately, within the form fields or “boxes” will allow the research team to
this data, which would have worked in our favor while advocating scrape the typed responses and import them into a database for
for the highest rent increases since 2013, was released the same further analysis. To ensure privacy, location-specific information
month that the COVID-19 pandemic began impacting millions of found in the TC-201 will be erased from the database, including
tenants throughout the five boroughs. the full parcel identifier and property address. Only the zip code
Because this issue went to press before the March 31st meeting, of each property will be retained. This anonymization process will
we are uncertain what the final calculation of NOI will be in the ensure that the data are not traceable to any individual building,
2022 I&E Study. However, there are numerous negative factors property, or parcel. Please be advised that RSA guarantees full
that have undoubtedly impacted an owner’s bottom-line over confidentiality of all data submitted by our members.
the last two years, such as the loss of rental income caused by You can upload the forms by visiting https://bit.ly/3L1uvAB.
pandemic, as well as the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection To truly encapsulate the impact of various economic factors over
Act (HSPTA) of 2019. Through the month of April, the Board will the last few years, we are only requesting TC-201 forms for the
release additional reports that will play a pivotal role in this year’s following years: 2019, 2020 and 2021.
deliberations, such as the 2022 Price Index of Operating Costs If you have any questions regarding the analysis or treatment of the
(PIOC). This year’s PIOC report is expected to reflect the various data, please reach out to Jon Meyers at jmeyers@hraadvisors.
increases in building operating expenses over the last year, such com or Vidhee Garg at vgarg@hraadvisors.com of the HR&A
as property taxes, heating costs, water and sewar rates, insurance team. We encourage our members to not only participate, but to
costs, and others. upload these forms as soon as possible, so that the data can be
A full schedule leading up to the Board’s Preliminary Vote still used as part of our arguments in our testimony, as well as at other
had not been publicly released, but RSA was preparing to present various points throughout this year’s deliberations.
invited testimony before the Board Members some time at the end Be on the lookout for RSA email blasts and the May issue of the
of April. In preparation of our testimony, RSA, in conjunction with RSA Reporter, where we will summarize all RGB reports and
REBNY and CHIP, are conducting a detailed analysis of existing update you on all RGB matters. n
conditions and recent trends in operating expenses and revenues
RSA Membership Meeting ONLINE VIA ZOOM
Wednesday, April 20, 2022 at 2:15PM
Join us for our next virtual membership meeting! The Membership Meeting is an opportunity for owners to
learn about political, legal and regulatory updates as well as to raise questions and concerns. All paid RSA
members are welcome to attend. Please call 212-214-9243 or via email at mrodriguez@rsanyc.org
to register. Once you have registered with your RSA member number, the Zoom meeting ID and password
will be sent to you via email. Please be advised that this is a private meeting for RSA members ONLY.
Do do not share meeting credentials with anyone else.
April 2022 | 3CITY & STATE ROUNDUP
Legislature Budget Plans Include Plethora of Rental Assistance
Funds Would Be Available to Both Owners and Tenants
State budget resolutions from both houses of the Legislature could Fast-forward to the middle of March when Governor Hochul learned
provide multiple financial assistance options for both building that the U.S. Treasury would only reallocate approximately $119
owners and tenants. million in additional rent relief funds to New York (see page 8 for
As we went to press, the Legislature was working with Governor more information). The announcement by the federal government
Kathy Hochul to ensure that an on-time State budget was passed came just days after the budget resolutions were proposed by
by April 1st. In the middle of March, both the Assembly and Senate both houses of the Legislature. The small reallocation amount put
passed budget resolutions that propose to dedicate nearly $2 billion additional pressure on the Legislature and Governor to reach an
in State funds for various rent relief and subsidy measures. agreement on these critical measures for owners and tenants.
The proposals include, but are not limited to, up to $1.25 billion Although the Senate and Assembly currently disagree on the
to replenish the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), dollar amounts that should be allocated for tenant and building
$400 million to replenish the Landlord Rental Assistance Program owner relief, it appears as if the final budget will ultimately include
(LRAP), $500 million dedicated towards the tenant utility additional relief in some capacity. These State funds will not only
arrears program, $250 million to launch a Section 8-style rent go a long way in satisfying approved and pending ERAP and LRAP
subsidy voucher program for tenants experiencing or are at-risk applications, but will also provide RSA with additional leverage
of homelessness, and $50 million for property owners to pay for throughout this year’s Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) deliberations.
damages caused by Hurricane Ida that were not covered by FEMA Tenant Members on the Board and tenant activists are expected to
insurance. continue using the financial impact of the pandemic on tenants as
By way of background, New York is sitting on a surplus of funds that enough justification for the Board to approve another unjustified
were allocated for the State through two federal COVID-19 stimulus rent freeze. Additional rent relief funds, on top of the original pot of
packages passed in December 2020 and March 2021. Governor $2.7 billion that the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance
Kathy Hochul announced in mid-January in her proposed Fiscal (OTDA) continues to pay out, will help satisfy the rental arrears of
Year (FY) 2023 State budget news conference that New York would thousands of the City’s stabilized tenants. This will allow the Board
allocate approximately $2 billion in State funds for “pandemic- to focus strictly on data that could very well justify the highest rent
related relief,” which could very well be used for rent relief funds. guideline increases since Mayor Michael Bloomberg was in office.
Although specifics were not detailed at the time, it was assumed We will provide a full breakdown of additional building owner and
that this amount of money was earmarked in the event that the U.S. tenant relief provided by the State budget in the May issue of the
Treasury Department did not provide New York with additional rent RSA Reporter. n
relief funds requested by the Governor and other elected leaders.
RSA Congratulates Barbara Newsome on Her Retirement
After over 20 years of dedicated work as an Additionally, RSA has promoted long-time staffer
RSA counselor, Barbara Newsome has officially Mohagny Frazier to an RSA counselor. Over
decided to retire. Ms. Newsome’s last day of her the last 15 years, Ms. Frazier was a hardworking
commended tenure at RSA was on March 31st. member of RSA’s data-processing team. After
Over the last two decades, hundreds of RSA years of experience and learning the ins-and-outs
members have developed a close relationship of the rental housing industry, Ms. Frazier began
Barbara Newsome Mohagny Frazier
with Ms. Newsome and have appreciated her her tenure as a counselor in early March and has
commitment to guiding them through the regulatory challenges already assisted dozens of RSA members with various questions
of the rental housing industry, as well as her kindness and and concerns.
professionalism. Ms. Newsome was an integral member of RSA’s We invite our members to contact Ms. Frazier and schedule an
staff and her absence will certainly leave a major void. However, appointment with her in the near future. She can be reached at
her retirement is well-deserved and we wish her the best of luck. (212) 214-9310, or by email at MFrazier@rsanyc.org. n
4 | April 2022CITY & STATE ROUNDUP
Owners Must Begin Filing RPIE Statements & Rent Roll Addendums
Storefront Registries Must Also Be Filed if Applicable
Property owners are once again required to submit income and If you would like to file a Claim of Exclusion, you must complete
expense information to the City Department of Finance (DOF) so Section D of the RPIE-2021 form. Owners who may file a Claim
that the value of your property is accurately assessed. of Exclusion, for example, have property that is vacant or
Owners must fill out Real Property Income and Expense (RPIE) inhabitable and has no existing leases. If there are any existing
Statements that will be used to determine property values for the leases, the owner must file the RPIE. Owners who wish to file a
2023-24 tax year that will begin on July 1, 2022. The deadline Claim of Exclusion, but have still not submitted the claim by the
to file RPIE statements is once again June 1st. As a residential June 1st deadline, could be subject to a $100 fine and subsequent
property owner, you are required to file the RPIE-2021, or a penalties for continued non-compliance.
Claim of Exclusion, if your property has an Actual Assessed Value DOF also offers a Short Form Option. If, on the 2022-2023
of more than $40,000 on the 2022-2023 Tentative Assessment Tentative Assessment Roll, your property has an Actual Assessed
Roll. Some properties are exempt and are not required to file Value of $250,000 or less and is not a hotel, you are permitted
either document. This includes properties that have an assessed complete a shorter version of the RPIE application instead of the
value under $40,000, contain 10 or less apartments, or are Class standard RPIE. If your property is eligible for the short form,
1 or Class 2 properties with six or less units and at least one you will be given the option when you begin the RPIE-2021 filing
commercial space. process online.
The RPIE-2021 statement must be filed online. Building Furthermore, there are two additional filing requirements that
owners who are senior citizens or disabled may apply for a waiver many owners must comply with. The Storefront Registry
from the electronic filing by completing the RPIE electronic requires property owners who have ground-floor or second-
filing waiver application by May 3rd. The waiver can be floor storefronts to register these spaces on the RPIE statement.
found on the DOF website (see below), or by calling 311. If the Owners can find these requirements in Section S of the RPIE
waiver is approved by DOF, the owner will be sent the RPIE- statement. Additionally, Class 2 and Class 4 building owners who
2021 form in the mail to complete and submit. have filed storefront information as part of their 2021 RPIE filing
Please be advised that beginning this year, building owners can must also file a Supplemental Storefront Registration
no longer file their RPIE statements through their original DOF form to report any property ownership changes or storefront
log-in credentials. The filing system now requires an NYC.ID. vacancies that occurred between January 1, 2022 and June 30,
If you do not have an NYC.ID, you must create one by visiting 2022 (or the date you sold the property, whichever is earlier).
https://on.nyc.gov/3tmxoWM. According to DOF, the NYC. The deadline to file the Supplemental Storefront Registration is
ID is a much more secure and comprehensive filing system and August 9, 2022.
can be used to submit a variety of other DOF related filings, as The major filing requirement that many owners must comply
you will see under “Available Filings” once you have logged in. with is the RPIE Rent Roll Addendum, which requires
Unfortunately, this year’s new log-in requirements come with RPIE filers whose properties have an actual assessed value of
some inconvenience. In the past, building owners were used to $750,000 or greater to file an addendum containing rent roll
specific building information being auto-populated based on information. As you may recall, RSA led a major effort in 2020
previous filings, such as building tax ID, contact information, etc. that resulted in a much more simplified addendum, which only
This year only, owners will be required to re-enter all building includes 10 filing requirements instead of the original 20
information. Once you have filed this year in the new portal, you filing requirements proposed two years ago. DOF also addressed
will be able to retrieve filings, including pre-populating the fields another concern of RSA by eliminating the need for building
moving forward in the new system. If you wish to retrieve RPIE- owners to report rent roll information for both the former
2020 data from the old system for reference, you can do so by and current tenants if a tenancy changed during the current
visiting https://on.nyc.gov/36tX9vl. Click the “View Your reporting period. Owners are now required to only report on the
Return” button and check the “View your prior return click here” new tenant only.
box. Enter your BBL and the same password that you used last All FAQs and additional information about the RPIE and Rent
year when filing your RPIE. Roll Addendum filing requirements can be found by visiting
If you are not required to file an RPIE statement, you may https://on.nyc.gov/2CsrqvQ. Please be advised that
voluntarily file the RPIE-B form, which is a simpler form that building owners are required to submit the rent roll addendum
the City uses to accurately value your property. Unlike the RPIE- information, along with the RPIE-2021, no later than June 1st.
2021 form, the RPIE-B can be filled out either electronically If you are required to file the RPIE-2021 and do not do so by
or manually and mailed directly to DOF at 66 John Street, 12th the June deadline, you might be subject penalties based on
Floor, New York, NY 10038. To download samples of the RPIE- the 2022-2023 Assessed Value of your property. Please visit
2021 forms, or for instructions on how to file your RPIE forms http://on.nyc.gov/1ECCv19 for more information on all
online, visit http://on.nyc.gov/1ECCv19. matters related to the RPIE. n
6 | April 2022You can also read
