Ahead of the release of the 2022 Worst Landlord Watchlist, Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams advanced his bill to combat the practices of some of the worst landlords in New York City and support tenants in need of relief and repairs. For its hearing of the City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings today, he argued in support of Intro 583, a part of the Worst Landlord Accountability Act which is aimed at correcting and preventing disingenuous tactics used by some of those landlords in order to attempt to remove themselves from the list.
"In putting together the Worst Landlord Watchlist, we found far too many instances of landlords failing to live up to their most basic responsibilities of being a steward for the housing of renters who call New York home," said Public Advocate Williams of the legislation. "In case after case, violation after unchecked violation, bad actors demonstrated an inability or an unwillingness to live up to their end of the bargain – and it's past time to put in place meaningful reforms to not just call out these actions, but to put a stop to them. This legislation is about preventing landlords from evading accountability and protecting their tenants from conditions which are physically unsafe or otherwise insecure."
Within the current system, landlords are often able to self-certify their own repairs without city verification. Under the Public Advocate’s legislation heard today, Intro 583, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development would be required to maintain a certification of correction list and prohibit any listed landlord from certifying correction of violations in multiple dwellings without an inspection. This would prevent landlords already identified as bad actors from falsely claiming repairs have been made.
The bill would also increase penalties for failure to correctly certify. A landlord who fails to file a statement of registration or an amendment of a statement of registration will have to pay a fine of anywhere between $500 and $1,000. Anyone willfully making a false certification of correction of a violation will have to pay between $500 and $2,500 for each violation falsely certified, as well as any other penalties required. Additionally, penalties would increase for hazardous violation of housing standards based on severity.
The Public Advocate noted in his statement for the committee, “As we soon move into the new year, it is critical that we take swift action to hold the worst landlords accountable. We need to invest the resources to stop them from handling these violations and fines as negligible, or the cost of doing business, and combat the notion that making profit is much more vital than their own tenants.”
Each year, the Public Advocate's office releases the Worst Landlord Watchlist, which spotlights the top 100 most egregiously negligent landlords in New York City as determined by widespread and repeated violations in buildings on the list. The 2022 list will be released in the coming weeks.
Read the bill here, and Public Advocate’s statement to the committee below.
STATEMENT OF PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS
TO THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON
HOUSING AND BUILDINGS
DECEMBER 6, 2022
Good Morning.
My name is Jumaane D. Williams and I am the Public Advocate for the City of New York. Thank you very much Chair Sanchez and members of the Committee on Housing and Buildings for holding this hearing and allowing me the opportunity to provide a statement.
During today’s hearing, I will be talking about Int 0583-2022, which increases the penalties for various violations including landlords that falsely claim their violations are fixed. These violations are issued by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). The purpose of this bill is to make sure that the violations landlords receive are not persistently ignored. This will give them a sense of urgency to actually resolve it. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development is also required to post a certification of correction watchlist on their website every year before January 15. This provides additional monitoring on any violations, more accountability towards landlords, and further protection for tenants facing unsafe conditions. In order for landlords to have their violations rectified, HPD must conduct an inspection to verify that the violation has been corrected.
According to the data we found based on our Worst Landlord Watchlist from last year, many landlords further abandoned building repairs throughout the pandemic. Across the board, there was an overall increase in violations among landlords on the list. HPD even reported an increase as well. There continues to be a trend of abuse and neglect by bad landlords in New York City. As we soon move into the new year, it is critical that we take swift action to hold the worst landlords accountable. We need to invest the resources to stop them from handling these violations and fines as negligible, or the cost of doing business, and combat the notion that making profit is much more vital than their own tenants.
In alignment with this bill, my office and I are set to release our 2022 Worst Landlord Watchlist very soon. This bill will close the gaps of landlords getting away with not upholding the responsibilities that come with this title. I urge my colleagues to prioritize passing this bill in preparation for this release. We must choose the path that allows us to adequately invest and support New Yorkers who are living here.
Thank you.
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