November 2022 Property Owner Bulletin

Dear Property Owners,

The Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) periodically provides updates on new legislation and information on available materials and resources to residential building owners to support compliance with the New York City Housing Maintenance Code, the New York State Multiple Dwelling Law and other relevant city codes. To translate this webpage, click on the translate button in the header above.

This publication is intended for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. This information is not a complete or final statement of all the duties of owners and tenants regarding laws and rules relating to housing in New York City.

Important Dates

December 1-31: Annual Bedbug Filing (file online with HPD) Property owners of multiple dwelling(s) are required to file the Annual Bed Bug Report electronically with HPD. Only non-corporate owners (individual owners or joint owners) may submit paper reports. The filing period starts December 1st and ends December 31st. For more information about Bedbug filing see the October 2022 bulletin.

By January 16: Lead-Based Paint Annual Inquiry regarding the presence of a child under 6 – deliver to all tenants in buildings built prior to 1960

By January 16: Window Guard annual inquiry regarding the presence of a child under 11 – deliver to all tenants in multiple dwellings (buildings with 3 or more units)

Annually inspect units for indoor allergen hazards such as mice, cockroaches, rats and mold. You can keep records properly by using HPD’s Sample Investigative Report.

Annually distribute a Notice regarding the availability of Stove Knob Covers.

Reminder about other issues that you can check for when conducting annual allergen hazard apartment inspections. Note that these are all issues that a Housing Inspector will check for when conducting an inspection for any reason:

• Apartment and public area doors that do not self-close Self-Closing Doors 
• Fire Safety Notices on the back of apartment doors
• Carbon monoxide detectors and smoke detectors should be present and working. As a landlord, you are responsible to replace any carbon monoxide and smoke detector upon the expiration of its useful life.
• Tenant should not install double-cylinder locks on doors or unapproved (by the FDNY) fire gates on windows.

Lead Annual Notice and Window Guard Annual Notice (January 1 – January 16)

Between January 1 – January 16, New York City law requires that owners of certain types of buildings distribute annual notices to tenants related to lead-based paint and window guards. The annual notice responses must be collected from the tenants by February 15. The annual notice for each can be sent individually or by using an approved combined format when both notices are required for the building. The notices are provided below.

Window Guards

Property owners must use the annual notice to determine if a child 10 years of age or younger lives in an apartment. If a child 10 years of age or younger is determined to live in an apartment, the owner must provide and properly install approved window guards on all windows, including first floor bathroom windows and windows leading onto a balcony or terrace in the apartment where the child lives, and in each common area window, if any, in such buildings. The exceptions to this law are windows that open onto a fire escape and windows on the first floor that are a required secondary exit in a building in which there are fire escapes on the second floor and up. A tenant may also request to have a window guard installed even if a child 10 or younger does not live in the apartment.

Lead-Based Paint

Property owners must use the annual notice to determine if a child under 6 years of age resides in a dwelling unit. “Resides” for lead-based paint under NYC law means to routinely spend 10 or more hours per week within a dwelling unit. Once a child under 6 years of age has been determined to reside in a unit, the owner must perform an annual inspection in that apartment and in the common areas of the building to look for lead-based paint hazards, which then must be corrected using certified contractors and safe work practices. Owners must keep track of distributing these lead-based paint annual notices, collecting them, the annual inspections, and all activities required in the New York City Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act, also known as Local Law 1 of 2004, as amended, for at least 10 years. HPD has made available for you a SAMPLE Delivery of Annual Notice for Prevention of Lead-Based Paint Hazards – Inquiry Regarding Child - Summary Form or you may use a similar document to keep track of distributing the lead-based paint annual notice. This information is required to be kept under the law, and the sample form can be used in the event that your property’s lead-based paint records are audited by HPD. Other sample notices and more resources regarding Local Law 1 of 2004 are available on HPD lead-based paint webpage.

The table below outlines when the window guard and lead-based paint annual notices are required:

Depending on which form is required for a building, an owner can provide the tenants with each required form individually or use the combined form:

• Window Guard Annual Notice in English and Spanish
• Lead-based Paint Annual Notice in English and Spanish
• Combined Lead-based Paint and Window Guard Annual Notice in English and Spanish

Indoor Allergen Hazards

Owners of multiple dwellings are required by Local Law 55 of 2018 to:

• Inspect units annually for indoor allergen hazards such as mice, cockroaches, rats, and mold, and respond to any complaints received directly from tenants or HPD. Make sure vacant apartments are thoroughly cleaned and free of pests and mold before a new tenant moves in.
• Provide the What Tenants and Landlords Should Know About Indoor Allergens and Local Law 55 fact sheet and a Notice with each tenant’s lease that clearly states the property owner’s responsibilities to keep the building free of indoor allergens.
• Remediate pest infestation. Use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to address pest infestations. The safe work practices in Section 27-2017.9 of Local Law 55 and 28 Rules of the City of New York section 54-04 must be followed when assessing and correcting any underlying defects (such as moisture) that may have caused the infestation. IPM Requirements.
• Remediate mold conditions. For more information on mold remediation and the specific requirements for your building (work practices and required contractors), see our Indoor Allergen Hazards webpage.

Stove Knob Covers Annual Notice

Property owners of multiple dwellings are required to provide tenants with a Stove Knob Covers Annual Notice (available in multiple languages on HPD’s Stove Knob Covers webpage) which must inform tenants that:

• Stove knob covers or permanent stove safety knobs will be made available within thirty days of distributing the annual notice,
• The owner must provide stove knob covers or permanent stove safety knobs with integrated locking mechanisms for gas-powered stoves to any household that requests them, regardless of whether a child under six lives in the unit, and
• Tenants can forego stove knob covers through written refusal to the landlord. If a tenant does not submit written refusal to the owner, the owner is still obligated to provide stove knob covers or permanent stove safety knobs with integrated locking mechanisms for gas-powered stoves to any household where the owner knows or reasonably should know that a child under age six resides

It is the owner’s obligation to keep documented proof of any notification of refusal for stove knob covers, notification from dwelling units that requested stove knob covers, and documented proof that the owner attempted to provide stove knob covers to a household where the owner knows or reasonably should know that a child under age six resides. Owners are not required to submit notices to HPD.

Property Registration

Property Registration was due September 1st: If you did not submit your registration as of now, you will have received a violation from HPD for failure to register. You will be unable to file for Dismissal Requests, file certifications of correction of violations, or file actions against the tenants in Housing Court. Once you file a valid registration and pay the fee, the registration violation will be dismissed automatically.

For more information on who is required to register and how to register, go to HPD’s Property Registration webpage or please reach out to the Registration Assistance Unit via email (Register@hpd.nyc.gov) or telephone (212-863-7000).

Childcare Property Tax Incentive

To help NYC invest in an accessible, equitable, and high-quality childcare system, Mayor Adams successfully championed a new property tax abatement for property owners who retrofit space to accommodate childcare centers. Property owners who create a childcare center or increase the number of seats at an existing childcare center may be eligible for a property tax abatement covering up to $225,000 of construction costs. Applicants will be able to apply through the Department of Finance at www.nyc.gov/finance in early January 2023.