An effective commercial lease will dictate the future relationship between a commercial landlord and tenant. The more clauses forcing the commercial tenant to comply with its obligations, the better chance the landlord will have in not only have a successful relationship but also ensuring that the rent is paid and the tenant behaves. Below are Full Article…
Understanding Single-Room Occupancy Laws – Part II
By Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman Part II Certificate of No Harassment The obtainment of a certificate of no harassment is the gateway into turning a highly regulated, alteration-prohibited building into a free-market class A multiple dwelling. It should be noted that even after a certificate is granted, any current tenants retain their rent-regulated Full Article…
Understanding Single-Room Occupancy Laws
February 3, 2016 Single-room occupancy housing, or more commonly called SROs, exist throughout New York City. When purchasing such a dwelling without the proper paperwork, you will not be able to obtain a permit to do renovations, a buyer cannot evict the residents who are rent-regulated tenants, and the owner may be required to maintain Full Article…
Q&A: Navigating the City’s Complex Housing Market
New York Times March 14th, 2015 Death and House Cleaning Q. My mother has lived in a rent-stabilized apartment in a co-op building for 40 years. When she passes away, how many months do her children have to clear out her belongings before the unit must be vacated? Forest Hills, Queens A. You will probably Full Article…
Q&A: On The Loft Law
By: Dov Treiman April 7th, 2015 The Loft Law and several related laws set procedures to protect and preserve residential occupancies in buildings that were originally built for commercial use by ensuring renovations to these buildings to bring them up to the safety standards that are normal in apartment buildings. Not all commercial buildings qualify Full Article…
Important Questions and Answers on the New and Old Rules of the Loft Law
Fall 2015 By Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman Q1. What is a loft? A1. The word “loft” has no legal meaning. The word “loft” is used in several laws and in the naming of The New York City Loft Board which was set up for the purpose of taking illegal residential tenancies in buildings Full Article…
Preferential Rents Now Decrease Vacancy Increases
Under the Rent Law of 2015, the law irrefutably assumes that a preferential rent is not based on some special relationship with the tenant but is a genuine statement of what the market will bear. Since rent stabilization is supposed to prevent tenants from paying above-market rents, the logic of the situation that the Legislature Full Article…
Fair-Market Tenants and Condominium Conversions
A recent newspaper article reports that between 2009 and 2012, a total of 117 rental buildings in Manhattan and Brooklyn were converted to cooperative or condominium ownership.1 Many of the units contained therein were deregulated. This article explores what rights tenants of these units have vis-à-vis rent-regulated tenants when a building is being converted, if and Full Article…