On February 11, 2010, the New York City Council passed the Tenant Fair Chance Act, which protects prospective tenants from inaccurate court docket reports. In New York City, tenants sued in Housing Court are put on court docket reports, which are used by many landlords in considering applications. In many cases, these docket reports are effectively blacklists. Unlike credit reports, these lists are not based on Social Security Numbers but rather on the tenant’s name, and landlords are not required by federal law to provide a copy of the report to the prospective tenant. These factors make the system relatively unreliable. The Tenant Fair Chance Act requires landlords to provide prospective tenants with the names and addresses of any screening companies they use. The City Council hopes that the law will give tenants a way to make sure renting decisions are made with accurate information.
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New York City has a system of rent stabilization that is meant to provide affordable housing to the working class. The rent stabilization program limits the rents a landlord can charge and caps the annual rate of rent increases. Landlords must also offer renewal leases and required services to tenants, who can be evicted only for specific reasons set forth in the law. The subject is controversial and leads to many landlord-tenant disputes. This article provides an overview of the rent stabilization program in New York City.
New York City’s Tenant Protection Act protects tenants from landlord harassment but is balanced to stop frivolous claims by tenants. Landlords have a pecuniary interest in evicting tenants residing in rent-stabilized or rent-controlled apartments. While there are tenants who illegally sublet their regulated apartments for a profit while they live elsewhere, there are also instances where innocent tenants find themselves being harassed by their landlords. The Act protects tenants who are being harassed by landlords looking to evict them.
The prototypical eviction involves a landlord and a tenant who has not paid his rent. However, evictions come up in other situations. A landlord might evict a squatter. Or a roommate who is not on the lease may be evicted by his fellow roommates. The legal process used in all these situations are the same: a summary eviction proceeding filed in Civil Court. (A rather important, though rare, exception: if the premises being rented lacks a proper certificate of occupancy from the city, you have to bring an action for ejectment in NY Supreme Court. This is really slow and troublesome.) Read the rest of this entry »