Governor Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Mayor Bill de Blasio today are announcing the launch of a joint enforcement task force, titled the Tenant Harassment Prevention Task Force, to investigate and bring enforcement actions – including criminal charges – against landlords who harass tenants. Tenant harassment complaints in Housing Court have nearly doubled since 2011. The task force will confront the rise in complaints that landlords are using a variety of tactics, including disruptive and dangerous renovation and construction projects, to force tenants into vacating rent-regulated apartments.

Previously, when owners have neglected their buildings and allowed them to fall into extreme disrepair, the NYC Department of Buildings and Department of Housing Preservation and Development have used their enforcement powers to ensure compliance with housing and building codes, while cases involving harassment and rent regulation have been handled by New York State’s Division of Homes & Community Renewal Tenant Protection Unit (TPU), which was created by Governor Cuomo in 2012 to investigate landlord patterns and practices of harassment and illegal profiteering. The new task force will conduct joint cellar-to-roof inspections, coordinate enforcement actions, and when necessary speed the prosecution of predatory landlords who purposefully distress properties as a form of harassment in order to displace tenants and deregulate rent-stabilized apartments.

“Every New Yorker deserves a safe, affordable, and decent place to live,” Governor Cuomo said. “Working with our partners in the State and City, and building upon the success of the Tenant Protection Unit, we will further crack down on unscrupulous and unlawful practices and ensure that tenants’ rights remain protected.”

“Most landlords are law-abiding and responsible, but as the real-estate market in New York City heats up we have seen an influx of bad actors looking to turn a fast buck,” Attorney General Schneiderman said. “A thriving real estate market is no excuse for tenant harassment. Make no mistake about this: My office will pursue landlords who knowingly or intentionally threaten the health and safety of their tenants to the full extent of the law, including bringing criminal charges against them. If you treat your law-abiding tenants like criminals, we will not hesitate to make you one.”

“We won’t sit idly by while bad actors push out the families that have built our neighborhoods. With the State and City combining efforts, we can prevent displacement and help tenants stay in their homes. Combined with the free legal representation we’re providing to thousands of tenants, this new task force will add muscle to our fight against tenant harassment and our efforts to protect rent-stabilized apartments,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Since its inception, the New York State TPU has recaptured more than 37,000 unlawfully deregulated apartments, returning them to rent regulation. The TPU’s successes led to the mobilization of the Tenant Harassment Prevention Task Force to coordinate those prosecutions, to bring maximum pressure on predatory landlords trying to displace tenants to raise rents and deregulate rent-stabilized apartments.

Incidents of harassment include:

·                  Landlords operating without proper permits;

·                  Construction projects operating in violation of stop work orders;

·                  Landlords who openly ignore requirements for tenant protection plans in order to contain the spread of lead and/or asbestos which may be exposed during renovation;

·                  Landlords removing essential systems, such as boilers and venting systems, in order make life unbearable for existing residents.

In recent months, enforcement agencies in New York, including the Attorney General’s office, TPU, and HPD, have received a significant uptick in complaints regarding tenant harassment. The task force is primarily concerned with harassment claims that involve both sanctioned and non-sanctioned construction projects that endanger the health and safety of existing occupants.

In response, the city and state and agencies, along with the Office of the Attorney General, came together to pool resources and crack down on the most dangerous and chronic violators.

Tenants should continue to lodge complaints to HPD and DOB through 311. They may also report complaints online at www.ag.ny.gov/complaint-forms.

(YWN Desk – NYC)