(MSCC) Sharon Jasprizza, August 1, 2023 / 9:30 AM -10:30 AM ZOOM

SUMMARY: 

1. Tom Caylor, The Coalition Against Illegal Hotels, applauds the dismissal of two lawsuits filed by Airbnb and a group of Airbnb hosts against the New York City Office of Special Enforcement (OSE). 

2. Article 7A: Catherine Barreda, Brooklyn Legal Services, cxbarreda@lsnyc.org; Alex Yong, Coalition To End Apartment Warehousing and Tenant advocate; NYC, Greg Baltz, Assistant Professor of Law, Co-Director, Housing Justice & Tenant, Solidarity Clinic, Rutgers Law School, and Emi Foto, Brooklyn Legal Services. 

3. Vittoria Fariello. Coalition for 100% Affordable Housing 5 WORLD TRADE CENTER (5 WTC)

4. Marquis Jenkins, Save Section 9, demolition of Fulton and Elliot Chelsea Housing

CHAIR: John Mudd

POLICY MEETING UPDATES

There are no updates from the Policy Meeting.

JULY HIGHLIGHTS

• On July 7, 2023, MSCC, with PNHP, CROC, and more forming a large coalition, announced that State Supreme Court Judge Lyle E. Frank blocked the City from switching its retired employees’ health coverage to Medicare Advantage. A preliminary injunction stopped the Monday deadline for retirees who want to keep traditional Medicare to opt out of the for-profit Aetna Medicare Advantage plan. The City cannot remove retirees or dependents from their health coverage plans until the court resolves a lawsuit. The lawsuit concerns switching people to Advantage Medicare (Aetna).
• In the August updates, MSCC will post further progress about the August 11, 2023 decision where CROC won the final round (sixth lawsuit) of primary litigation in the NY State Supreme Court. The judge gave the sixth case a TRO. Still, he has now gone beyond that and ruled (his final decision) in our favor, basically saying that we cannot be forced onto a Medicare Advantage plan and that the City cannot break both current municipal law and labor contracts that promise retirees to have their Medicare supplemental plan paid for by NYC. Even NY City Comptroller Brad Lander made a statement in our favor and would not sign off twice on procuring any Medicare Advantage plan. 
• John Mudd, MSCC, updated and printed more of the MSCC Street Sheets. Contact john.mudd@usa.net for more information and updates and to provide your contacts and services
• Rob Robinson, MSCC, a community organizer and an International Human Rights Law advocate, was interviewed by Josh Cooper of Cooper Union in late July. Eric Tars of the National Homeless Law Center was also interviewed.  ThinkTech Hawaii recorded it. The interview revolved around the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and article number 25. As a community organizer and advocate of International Human Rights Law, article 25 focuses on economic, cultural, and social rights. https://youtu.be/A37zIDnbARs?feature=shared

SPECIAL INTRODUCTION(S) AND OR UPDATES: 

Katy Lasell, Right To Counsel NYC, Katy Lasell, katy@righttocounselnyc.org, 617 645 5122

• Expanding the right to eviction representation across the State and for everyone to have this right
• If you are experiencing problems such as repairs, you also have a right to counsel. Email Katy to be involved in actions, direct involvement, and to build direct relationships with elected officials

Tom Caylor, Coalition against Illegal Hotels

• The hearing is tomorrow, August 2, 2023. The updates from this hearing follow.
• ‘The Coalition Against Illegal Hotels applauds the dismissal of two lawsuits filed by Airbnb and a group of Airbnb hosts against the New York City Office of Special Enforcement (OSE)

The plaintiffs sought to invalidate Local Law 18 of 2021, which requires hosts of short-term rentals (STRs) to register with OSE and obtain a valid registration number to enter into transactions with Airbnb or other STR platforms. Only hosts engaged in legal short-term rentals are eligible for a registration number. In dismissing the two cases on August 8, Supreme Court Justice Arlene P. Bluth essentially rejected all of the arguments raised by the plaintiffs. Justice Bluth rebuffed Airbnb’s contentions that the registration system will be intrusive and compromise their hosts’ privacy. “Privacy in this context is nonsense,” said Tom Cayler of the West Side Neighborhood Alliance. “Airbnb hosts hand out keys to their abode post all sorts of personal and private information online, including where they live, the configuration of the residential unit to be occupied, photos of themselves and their loved ones. When you hand your keys to a perfect stranger, you are not worried about your privacy.” Citing section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA), which protects “publishers” from liability for users’ “content,” Airbnb claimed that it was exempt from the requirement under Local Law 18 to verify that listings by its hosts have a valid and current registration number. But Justice Bluth determined that the law does not infringe on Airbnb’s rights under the CDA; rather, Local Law 18 prohibits Airbnb from collecting fees from hosts of illegal short-term rentals. Airbnb has profited from illegal listings in New York City, its largest domestic market, for years. In a city of renters struggling to find affordable homes, unscrupulous landlords have converted entire apartment buildings into illegal hotels, as they can make more money renting to tourists, or don’t want to take on the responsibilities required to rent to permanent tenants. OSE has said that there were 43,000 illegal Airbnb listings in 2018 alone, that there were 11,934 complaints about illegal STRs from 2017 to 2021, and they have issued more than 15,000 violations in that period.

• OSE estimates that 55% of Airbnb’s New York City revenue comes from illegal short-term rentals and that at the end of 2022, the number of active illegal listings on Airbnb was more than 10,000. The Coalition Against Illegal Hotels hopes that once Local Law 18 is implemented and fully functional, it will end illegal hotel activity in New York City and return thousands of apartments to the long-term residential rental market. This has been the experience in other cities that have enacted similar short-term rental registration laws, such as Santa Monica and San Francisco, where illegal hotel activity has virtually disappeared. OSE began implementing Local Law 18 in March when it opened its online portal where hosts can apply for a registration number. There have been news reports that the agency has had difficulty hiring new staff and has a backlog of unprocessed applications by hosts. Because of this delay, OSE has agreed that it will not engage in enforcement or impose penalties before September 5. The Coalition Against Illegal Hotels has urged the administration of Mayor Eric Adams to accelerate hiring for OSE. The Coalition Against Illegal Hotels will sponsor a virtual town hall after Labor Day to inform the public about Local Law 18 and its implementation.

ARTICLE 7A  

Catherine Barreda, Brooklyn Legal Services, cxbarreda@lsnyc.org; Alex Yong, Coalition To End Apartment Warehousing and Tenant advocate; NYC, Greg Baltz, Assistant Professor of Law, Co-Director, Housing Justice & Tenant, Solidarity Clinic, Rutgers Law School, greg.baltz@rutgers.edu

The following is a summary by Alex Yong, Coalition to End Apartment Warehousing;

• ARTICLE 7A whitepaper by Greg Baltz! https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/jlasc/vol26/iss1/2/ . Don’t be put off by the title on the first page  Resurrecting the Rent Strike Law,as this was the original title for Article 7A
• “Article 7A” is what the housing court calls it (It’s really “Article 7A Proceedings,” but it’s so breathy, therefore, everyone, including judges, says 7A or Article 7A
• ADDENDUM A: CM Pierina Sanchez is at New York City Council8 December 2022, chaired an oversight hearing examining the Department of Housing Preservation and Development tools for enforcing the city’s housing maintenance code and seven bills relating to the same. See the Addendum below or see it here: facebook.com/cmpisanchez/posts/pfbid0JGDVcsjrAcRrm7AvWLCF7xWxuaU7dNxXJi5zsAZ17zWgncaihcAkdtKd61eEFoB1l
• Where it’s perfectly acceptable to say “the 7A” is when it’s followed by a noun e.g., “the 7A receiver,” or “the 7A administrator,” or “the 7A trial.” 
• Councilwoman Sanchez knows 7A is powerful, and she’s sad it’s not used enough

Emi Foto, Brooklyn Legal Services

• An HP action is to pursue repairs, and an early factor in that pursuit is an initial HPD inspection. With a 7A proceeding, tenants aren’t merely asking for an inspection nor merely asking that repairs get done; they’re also asserting that their landlord has allowed one or more bad conditions to fester, putting tenants’ well-being at risk and that one-third of tenants assent to the allegations. The goal of a 7A proceeding is to remove the landlord (and any management team they hired) from the day-to-day managing of a building. This goal doesn’t exist in an HP Action. This goal, which exists in 7A and is absent in HP Actions is the quickest, most salient fact to remember regarding how they differ.

Greg Baltz, Assistant Professor of Law, Co-Director, Housing Justice & Tenant, Solidarity Clinic, Rutgers Law School,

• In 7A proceedings, the legal standard is that there has to be a condition threatening tenants’ safety and health that’s been allowed to fester for 5(five) days or longer. The landlord remains the owner, but if a 7A receiver is appointed, all rent monies go to the receiver to fully make repairs. Judges actually want to avoid appointing 7A receivers. Instead, judges prefer to give landlords multiple chances to remedy bad conditions. If, however, a 7A receiver is appointed, landlords can’t even legally set foot in their building, and other positives for tenants hence some advocates regard 7A as the kiss of death for landlords. Note for anyone new to this: There’s no 5-day requirement in an HP Action. Neither is there a requirement in an HP Action to gather signatures from one-third of residents
• A note of clarification on terminology: It is pure coincidence that “HP Actions” and “HPD” have similar initials. HPD is the NYC agency named Housing Preservation and Development. Per Emi and Greg: HP Actions are complaints filed in housing court in a “Housing Part” courtroom where the goal is to get a landlord to remedy physical deficiencies and bad conditions. In an HP Action, HP always stands for “housing part.” HP is not shorthand for HPD
• Greg Baltz’s white paper on 7A: Please note: The title of this white paper says “Resurrecting The Rent Strike Law.” That’s 7A’s old name from five decades ago. In modern times, 7A is cited by its statute, Article 7A Proceedings, probably to reduce confusion. Greg’s white paper is fully about 7A, despite its title:   https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/jlasc/vol26/iss1/2/ In Greg’s white paper you will learn some of the pitfalls of 7A, where tenants can trip up, the history of HPD and HPD’s role in 7A proceedings, and tons more. Please include the gold link because everything anyone would want to know about 7A is in Greg’s white paper
• Further Research at  http://tenant.net/Other_Laws/RPAPL/rpapl07a.html , including Section 777 
• The 7A is an underutilized tool. An average of 23 7A petitions were filed in housing court annually between 2016-19. Yet, Community Service Society of New York estimates 10,000 chronically distressed buildings[sic] in NYC representing[sic] over 115,000 units and 300,000 individuals.

The following is time-stamped from the FB recording summarized by Alex Yong https://www.facebook.com/Midtownsouthnyc/videos/1227828537903006 

• 29:47  — CORE OF 7A

If a 7A receiver is appointed, the landlord can’t collect rent. Rent goes DIRECTLY to the 7A receiver to remedy bad conditions (or rents are deposited with the court for the same goal)

• 44:02 —  caveat
• “The 7A administrator is limited because they can only use a building’s current rent rolls for repairs. They will not use their own money. If the boiler’s not working, you’re looking at multiple months of trying to save up (via tenants’ timely rent) to rectify the boiler issue. In theory, HPD has a funding workaround which helps a 7A receiver avoid saving up, but HPD is loathe to use the workaround unless tenants go toe to toe with HPD.”
• 46:16  —  CLT’s, LIMITED EQUITY CO-OPS vis-a-vis 7A / SOME HISTORICAL INFO (1970’s and 1980’s) plus MODERN 7A STRATEGIES WHICH CAN GIVE ENORMOUS LEVERAGE TO TENANTS
• Also, hear caveats at 46:55 and 48:45
• 37:07 and 42:40  —  THE SADDEST REALITY ABOUT 7A

Judges who keep giving landlords chances and 60-day extensions are the saddest reality about why 7A’s don’t reach their full potential.

• 26:36 and 29:37 — SUPERB EARLY POSITIVE  (when you don’t know who exactly your landlord is!)

7A can quickly end any confusion or mystery on who an actual landlord is (natural human/person, not LLC ) . . . ….If HPD shows a landlord name that’s different from the deed, or strange people show up to the building to say they’re the landlord, and worse, trying to force tenants to sign confusing things, a 7A can help enormously in figuring out who the actual owner is.

It’s easy to see why the landlord will rush to the scene and reveal himself/herself lightning fast — because with a 7A, there’s a high risk they’ll be ruined financially if a 7A receiver gets control of the rents, and the landlord might even lose the building.

• 38:51  —  HARD TRUTH

“7A isn’t perfect. We can get into what’s not ‘great’ about 7A. We tried to reform it 2-3 years ago”

Thanks, Greg 

• 49:31 —  IDEAS ON 7A REFORM, WHICH SADLY WEREN’T EMBRACED 2-3 YEARS AGO
  “7A reforms which we proposed three years ago are at three levels: state, city and the courts.”
• 52:37  —  GREAT RESOURCE; don’t let it go to waste

“If any advocacy group wants to learn more and shorten 7A’s learning curve, we have tons of materials to share with you that can get you up to speed.”

• MSCC thoughts-

This type of deep research and materials should be embraced, not ignored, especially because it’s packaged so neatly and turnkey. If no org embraced this 2-3 years ago, to the Midtown South Community Council, I ask: Why not YOU in 2023 or 2024? This is too good to miss.

• 45:33 — GOOD HISTORICAL RESOURCE

“We helped tenants in 851 East 163rd Street in the Bronx, and if you look up the hashtag justicefor851 on Twitter, you’ll see escalating tactics used against the city”

• 35:51 GREAT INFO – How to quickly understand the difference between HP actions/group HP’s vs. 7A

“HP actions and group HP actions are JUST to remedy conditions, but a 7A proceeding is to remedy conditions AND ALSO to adamantly assert to a judge that the landlord can’t competently manage the building, even if the landlord hires his own middlemen property managers to do management 24/7/365.”

• MSCC thoughts

I infer that HP/group HP asserts that a landlord is dreadful “some of the time,” but the landlord still deserves to stay the landlord….

Whereas a 7A asserts that the landlord (and any manager/henchman) is egregiously incompetent “ALL of the time” (with evidence of 5 days or longer festering/neglected conditions), and as such, a 7A administrator/receiver would be needed for tenant justice. (Also see 37:59 Great reform idea)

As someone once pointed out, 7A s are a bit like “group HP’s on steroids.”

• 44:54  7A STARTING METHOD  – THE 2 CHOICES 

“Either HPD or organized tenants can seek the appointment of a 7A administrator. When HPD does it, when the case is over, and you have to make the 7A administrator do their job, there’s no infrastructure to do that. Tenants must experience conditions that are dangerous to safety, health, or life for five consecutive days or longer and must be able to prove it. This is a prerequisite of 7A.”

• MSCC thoughts

Besides this, tenants need to know there are some disadvantages to being coddled by HPD (early on) in pursuing a 7A. ……Many tenants like to be coddled and value HPD holding their hand like a parent would a child, but there are SEVERAL ways ***HPD’s early involvement*** can negatively affect tenants. Yes, eventually, HPD is always part of the equation in a successful 7A, but often it’s advantageous to bring in HPD as LATE as possible. I hope this can be talked about more in September!  

• 39:24  —  GREAT INFO/CAVEATS to Rue’s question. 

Tenants, be extremely careful if you’re withholding rent. There’s no requirement that tenants need to 

be on “rent strike,” despite 7A’s historical name.

See the white paper:

• 1:43:16 WHITE PAPER ON 7A WRITTEN BY GREG BALTZ: https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/jlasc/vol26/iss1/2 

Miscellaneous info on 7A, HP actions, post-judgment 777′ 

A note of clarification on nomenclature: It is pure coincidence that “HP Actions” and “HPD” have similar initials. 

HPD is the NYC agency named Housing Preservation and Development. Per Emi and Greg: HP Actions are complaints filed in housing
court in a physical courtroom named “Housing Part” where the goal is to get a landlord to remedy bad conditions in a building..
In an HP Action, HP always stands for “housing part.” Always remember that HP is not shorthand for HPD. Tenants trip up on this a lot.

Even more 7A goodies can be found at http://tenant.net/Other_Laws/RPAPL/rpapl07a.html including Section 777 post judgments, when a landlord truly deeply LOSES!

COALITION FOR 100% AFFORDABLE HOUSING 5 WORLD TRADE CENTER  (5 WTC) 

Vittoria Fariello, 5 WTC,vittoria@vittorianc.com

• 5WTC was the last site to be designated at the World trade Center site. An 80-story tower with luxury apartments was to be built on this public land.  The community was outraged. The first offering was 25 % affordable housing, 5WTC coalition was formed to push for 100% affordable housing. So far 5WTC has been able to secure more but not the 100% yet and also a decrease in the AMI threshold i.e. 400 units with deep affordability
• Another concession was to increase the number of affordable units when the funding is found. Working with Congressman Dan Goldman to secure these funds
• 2WTC has not yet been built. The coalition will continue to fight for more affordable housing
• Lower Manhattan is a rich resource community and needs affordable housing

DISCUSSION

• Luana Green, MSCC, how did 5WTC change the AMI?
• Vittoria Fariello, 5 WTC, noted that it was the building of political pressure on elected officials seemed to help do this
• John Mudd, is AMI a tool for manipulating a city that doesn’t include affordable housing
• Vittoria Fariello, 5WTC, noted it was not the original intention, and there is a need for a better tool

NYCHA

Marquis Jenkins, Save Section 9 and Fulton and Elliot Chelsea Houses

• NYCHA is the largest housing authority in the country, with 176,000 apartments  housing 500,000 people
• All levels of government have not funded public housing or provided oversight
• Serious repairs are needed; no gas, rats, etc., holes in ceilings
• $78 billion dollars are needed for repairs
• Elliot Chelsea and Fulton Housing sit on very valuable land 
• HUD is moving housing from Section 9 to Section 8.
  • The first is for public housing while the second is RAD and PACT housing where private developers take over public housing
• In 2018 a working group involving legal aid, elected officials and more that came up with a plan not to include any demolition. However, demolition is now back on the agenda with a land grab for the Elliot Chelsea and Fulton Housing land
• The power-point presentation on page 10 illustrates the plan to demolish 7 buildings on Elliot Chelsea land, move the residents into 3 buildings and give up 75% of the land for 2,500 market rate apartments. The same is repeated for Fulton in another slide where 11 buildings will be demolished, and the residents will be moved to 3 buildings. Once again 75% of the land is to be given over to private developers to build market rate apartments

Jacqueline Lara, Coalition for Residents 

• CB4 is meeting regarding this issue
• Outreach is important to ensure demolition and the land grab does not happen

DISCUSSION 

• Luana Green, MSCC, 917-678-8353 Psalm316.lg@gmail.com will work with both Jacqueline and Marquis to bring more people to the table
• John Mudd, MSCC, working on forums and rallies around these issues and more
• Alixa Cruz, Hector Vasquez is on the community board and he is part of the tenant Association of NYCHA partner Miguel Acevedo and Darla waters misled the tenants. Alixa will make a list of demands for the interview 
• Marquis Jenkins, Save Section 9 and Fulton and Elliot Chelsea Houses, all 3 levels of government need to fund NYCHA rather than fund private developers, and oversight is needed. If this plan goes through, all public housing will be demolished throughout the city. Elected officials and tenant associations have signed onto this plan and must be held accountable to stop the private takeover of public housing and public land. 
• Teresa L Scott, Tenant Redfern Houses and Save Section 9, Article 7A could be used also
• Marquis Jenkins, Save Section 9, agrees we could use Article 7A and will continue this discussion. The Housing Authority only spent 6% of the funding for capital works for public housing. Why are they not spending 100% and where is the oversight for this?
• John Mudd, MSCC, repairs which are cosmetic do not need permits. Is there an opportunity for funding for MSCC and our networks to make these cosmetic works?
• Marquis Jenkins, Save Section 9, we are creating a joint management corporation for doing these types of repairs. This is a job creation opportunity

CHAT BOX

• Lili Lopez NY Connects, Manhattan and Brooklyn, Outreach Specialist, 646-457-5364 llopez@cidny.org 

NY Connects is a free of charge program that connects people with any disability, any age to services, resources, or it can be based on people’s needs.  Contact NY Connects at 844-862-7930.

• Rue Parkin | helpNYC, Executive Director, helpNYC, Rue.parkin@helpNYC.org
• Alixa cruz, Nycha no demolition save section 9 Chelsea Elliot t Fulton etc
• Cathy, BLS TRC, here’s a quick description and the link to statute: Article 7A of the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law (RPAPL) allows at least 1/3 of the tenants in the building, or the New York State Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to ask the court to appoint an administrator to run the building in place of the owner, when there exists for at least 5 days any of the conditions listed in the RPAPL. For further information, you may refer to RPAPL sec. 770(1).
• Cathy, BLS TRC, HP stands for Housing Part, which is a tenant-initiated case in housing court where tenant is seeking repairs or to stop harassment. 
• Greg Baltz: What we call HP cases stand for “Housing Part cases.” It’s a specific courtroom in the housing court where tenants can sue a landlord or the city can sue a landlord asking the court to order them to repair housing code violations
• Alex Yong, Please remember the Chair of the NYC Council’s Committee on Housing & Buildings recently said 7A is an underutilized tool and tenants must learn about it.
• Rue Parkin | helpNYC: Could we get some of the tenants to hear their first person accounts?
• Luana Green, How did you get approval for the decrease in AMI?
• Alex Yong: paraphrased quote from Council Member Pierina A. Sanchez, Chair of the NYC Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings: “7A is an underutilized tool. An average of twenty-three 7A petitions were filed in housing court annually between 2016-19, yet CSS estimates 10,000 chronically distressed buildings in NYC represent over 115,000  units and 300,000 individuals. We must ramp up our use of programs such as 7A.” (circa December 2022)
• Alex Yong: I feel like I want to connect the cohort to Councilmember Sanchez and her great team. Unsure how often the housing chair at the City Council is enthusiastic about 7A like she is.
• Alixa cruz, Hector Vasquez is in the community board and he is part of the tenant Association of nycha partner Miguel Acevedo and Darla waters misled the tenants
• Luana Green, almost all NYCHA properties sit on prime real estate
• Luana Green, Of all the funding the City Council approved this year none was allocated to NYCHA.  Interesting
• Alixa cruz, Hud should be in charge of controlling who could owe by 7a?
• Alixa cruz:, Eros account intents take control put our rent into repairs
• Alex Yong, escrow looks real good in the eyes of housing court. real integrity, seriousness.
• Marquis Jenkins: Marquis.j2@gmail.com – (347) 837-6422
• Teresa L Scott Tenant Redfern Houses, Save Section: Want to join Save Section 9 savesection9@gmail.com. We have a meeting tomorrow at 7:30 pm-9pm
• Alex Yong, 7A whitepaper by Greg Baltz! https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/jlasc/vol26/iss1/2/   (first page says Ressurrecting The Rent Strike Law)
• Alixa cruz, Honest Tenants Association with Jacqueline Lara: We will be homeless if we lose public housing ♥️
• Teresa L Scott Tenant Redfern Houses, Save Section: Marquis, can you copy the chat and send it to me, please. Begoodtwome711@gmail.com
• Yessica Cerda (Encore Community Services, Aging Through the Arts Center)
• Teresa L Scott Tenant Redfern Houses, Save Section
• Tamara Felix,Tamara Felix
  Manhattan Outreach Consortium
  Tamara.felix@cucs.org
  Community Affairs Coordinator
  

NEXT Meeting Homeless and Housing Meeting: 9:30 AM Tuesday, September 5, 2023. Always the 1^st Tuesday of every month. Contact hello@localhost or john.mudd@usa.net for more information and Zoom invitations.

ADDENDUM A: COMMENT

CM Pierina Sanchez is at New York City Council.

8 December 2022  · New York, NY, United States  · 

Yesterday I chaired an oversight hearing examining Department of Housing Preservation and Development tools for enforcing the city’s housing maintenance code and seven bills relating to the same. As we approach the anniversary of the Twin parks fire, caused by an electric space heater, it is critical we look at whether these programs are protecting our tenants as is intended. My key takeaways:

Despite over 500,000 annual inspections conducted by HPD, and a set of escalating enforcement programs meant to correct bad-landlord behavior, far too many New Yorkers remain in substandard housing conditions.

While the staffing shortages at HPD lead to delayed inspections, there are also gaps in the operation of these programs. Thank you to my colleagues Council Member Gale A. Brewer, Alexa Avilés, Councilmember Oswald Feliz for highlighting gaps impacting the implementation of these tools:

Fee collection rates remain abysmal. Between 2018-present NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) and NYC Department of Finance collected only 67% of fees charged, and this year to date, only 35% of fees charged for ERP have collected. We are waiting on more DOF data regarding longer-term late fees vis a vis tax enforcement programs.

The Alternative Enforcement Program is meant to keep landlords from using HPD’s Emergency Repair Program as their handymen, but with approx 386 buildings going through AEP multiple times, , and over 6,000 buildings repeatedly using ERP, coupled with insufficient fine and fee collection, we are concerned the worst actors are still abusing these programs.

For HPD, litigation is the end-all enforcement effort. Buildings that fail even after going through AEP, UC, Proactive Enforcement and more are then taken to court. However, the agency has no established metrics to measure the success of its litigation efforts. If housing quality improvements are the goal, and fee collection is secondary, then the agency must set key performance indicators regarding housing quality improvements post litigation.

Finally, 7A is an underutilized tool. An average of 23 7A petitions were filed in housing court annually between 2016-19, yet Community Service Society of New York estimates 10,000 chronically distressed budlings in NYC representing over 115,000 units and 300,000 individuals.

We must ramp up our use of these programs.

Thank you to my colleagues for their insightful questions into these programs, and thank you to all members of the public who testified on the bills and the city’s enforcement tools. We have plenty to follow up on, and I will be sure to update the public.