One big headache for many owners is getting hit with violations from the city’s Department of Sanitation (DOS). These violations include not keeping the sidewalk in front of your building clean, not sweeping 18 inches into the street, and not properly maintaining garbage receptacles. And now that DOS has raised the minimum base fine for Full Article…
Five NYC Laws Your Landlord Doesn’t Want You To Know
Friday, November 16, 2012, by Jeremiah Budin As many Zone A inhabitants can surely attest to, knowing your rights as a renter is never a bad thing. But, while the Warranty of Habitability is certainly important, it’s not the only law that could come in handy for a renter. Here are five things your landlord Full Article…
Whatever Happened to Article 78?
By Adam Leitman Bailey, Dov Treiman CPLR Article 78 gathers together the old writs used by the common law courts to review the work of administrative agencies. Section 7803 of that article limits the questions that can be raised in such proceedings to whether the agency failed to perform its duty, acted in excess of Full Article…
WITHER ‘SOFIZADE’? Many Courts Reject Ruling; First Department Silent
By Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman Although beginning the process in 1848 [FN1] of leading the English speaking world in the development of civil procedure designed to achieve justice based on the deeds and misdeeds of the litigants, New York did not achieve any kind of genuine system to accomplish that goal until 1963. Full Article…
“Dangerous Dogs,” The Cooperator
By Adam Leitman Bailey Q. I live in a 60 apartment co-op building. There are four tenants/shareholders who own dogs. Three have dogs that are well behaved, liked by just about everyone, and have never been a problem. The fourth, however, has two vicious dogs that have attacked individuals, and in one case bit a Full Article…
The Section 8 Program: Voluntary Participation Is a Thing of the Past
By Jeffrey R. Metz In the past 18 months, the judiciary and the City Council have carved out protections for tenants qualifying for what is commonly known as the Section 8 Program.1 Complaints that these new protections require owners, large and small, to lose a significant amount of control over those to whom they rent, Full Article…
Calls for State Insurance Threaten Property Transfers
BY ADAM LEITMAN BAILEY AND DOV TREIMAN Currently before the State Legislature are two bills, each jointly introduced in both houses, that would inject the state in the business of title insurance, damaging New York’s standing as the capital of real estate transactions. One would broaden the power of the State Insurance Fund to provide Full Article…
Can Co-ops Allow Roommates?
Can Co-ops Allow Roommates? Q:I live in a self-managed co-op and we are getting conflicting information about whether co-ops can disallow roommates or not. We’ve heard that the board of directors has absolute decision making power over whether or not to allow roommates to move into a co-op. Others say it should be voted on Full Article…