"If you are a chronically negligent actor who has your tenants living in dangerous conditions, you do not deserve to be in ownership and you, after a fair process, will have your property taken from you. Her legislation would specifically apply to buildings with unpaid taxes equal to a quarter of the property's value, or 15% if the property also has an average of five or more housing code violations per unit or at least $1,000 in emergency repairs paid by the city."
"Councilmember Pierina Sanchez, a Bronx Democrat who chairs the housing committee, said failure to replace the program has allowed problems to fester for tenants, with no accountability in sight. She sponsored legislation to bring back a version of the program that she said will be "hyperfocused on the worst of the worst" landlords, without hurting smaller owners with little debt."
Mayor Zohran Mamdani seeks to take control of apartment buildings from the city's worst landlords to improve tenant conditions. The City Council is considering legislation that would authorize the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to seize buildings from owners with significant housing code violations, unpaid taxes, and fines, then transfer them to more responsible owners. A previous version of this "third-party transfer" program was eliminated in 2019 after disproportionately affecting smaller, low-income owners of color. Councilmember Pierina Sanchez has sponsored revised legislation targeting only the worst landlords, applying to buildings with unpaid taxes equaling at least 25% of property value or 15% with five or more code violations per unit. The measure has some real estate industry support but requires backing from the Council speaker to advance for a vote.
Read at Gothamist
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]