August 2023 Bulletin to Property Owners

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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. Visit the HPD website to read this bulletin (and past bulletins) in other languages.

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.

HPD’s Property Registration is due by September 1st, 2023 

Registration forms have been sent to the address on file for each property and are also available through the Property Registration Online System (PROS). Do not forget to make any appropriate changes, print, sign, and date the form and mail it to HPD’s Property Registration Post Office Box:  HPD – Church Street Station – P.O. Box 3888 – New York, NY  10008-3888 as instructed on the form.  Payments should be sent directly to the Department of Finance (DOF).   Please do not send payments to HPD as this will delay the processing of your registration.  

We’re here to help you register: 

  • Check the Frequently Asked Questions section of our Registration webpage for answers to general questions.
  • Schedule an Appointment Onlineto speak with a Registration Unit representative about your property registration issues! Appointments are now available through video-conference, over the telephone or in person.
  • We are open to the public without an appointment on Thursdays ONLY between 9:30am and 1:00pm, and between 2:00pm and 4:00pm.
  • Visit us at our Borough Office Days to register in person. The schedule is below.

Emergency Preparedness 

Coastal Storms

Coastal Storm season remains in effect in New York City through November 30th, and HPD would like to ensure that building owners are prepared for such an event. This year’s coastal storm forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for the Atlantic is for a near-normal coastal storm season.

To stay informed on coastal storms and other emergencies, sign up for the City emergency alerts at www.NYC.gov/NotifyNYC AND register annually with HPD in order to be contacted during emergencies at the property. Provide an accurate 24-hour confidential phone number when registering. Register annually with HPD by visiting: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/hpd/services-and-information/register-your-property.page

NYC is broken up into 6 coastal storm evacuation zones. The mayor can issue evacuation orders for any and all zones prior to coastal storm making landfall in NYC. To find out if your property is in an evacuation zone, visit: http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/em/html/know-your-zone/knowyourzone.html 

Tips for preparing yourself and your tenants for a coastal storm:

 

  • Distribute the NYC Apartment Building Emergency Preparedness Guide to all residents at lease signing and once every 3 years. For more information on the guide, please visit: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/fdny/codes/fire-department-rules/fire-dept-rules.page 
  • Communicate your property’s elevator policy to tenants, particularly those reliant on elevators. Try to keep elevators in use as long as possible and not take them out of service until just prior to landfall of a storm or an evacuation if you have to take them out of service.
  • Communicate clearly to tenants prior to, during, and after a coastal storm as much as possible. As building owners, evaluate your capability to communicate critical information to all tenants through the use of building systems (e.g. intercoms, fire alarm systems), email or text messaging.
  • Consider establishing alternative means of communication in the event of a power outage or other disruption of regular telephone communications between building staff, building managers, and building owners.
  • Develop an evacuation plan for the property, as a well as a resiliency plan. Communicate these plans to building staff and tenants.
  • Conduct an assessment of the property immediately after the storm.
  • Ensure that your building staff is aware of what to do in common emergencies – such as who to contact to address flooding, electricity outages and other common outage issues.
  • Respond quickly to City agencies that may be reaching out to you as the property owner post-storm.
  • For more information, view these documents:

As stated above, property owners are required by law to post a temporary notice with emergency information in the common area of the building prior to a weather emergency, after a natural disaster, and after being informed of a utility outage to last more than 24 hours. View this sample notification.

For more information on property owner disaster response responsibilities, please visit this HPD webpage: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/hpd/services-and-information/disaster-response.page

Fire Safety

General Information 

As a property owner it's your responsibility to ensure the safety of your tenants.  You may be issued violations by the Fire Department, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development or the Department of Buildings for failure to comply with the legal requirements around fire safety.  Make sure you are aware of these fire safety rules. 

  1. All residential buildings with 3 or more apartments must have self-closing doors.  Ensure your tenants are aware that they should periodically check that apartment doors are self-closing and free of obstruction and that they know who to contact for necessary repairs.
  2. Smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors must be provided and installed in apartments.
  3. Ensure you are posting fire safety notices inside every apartment door and common area and distributing them to each unit, to new tenants, and annually during Fire Prevention Week in October.
  4. Make sure exits, including fire escapes, hallways, and all building entrance doors, including roof doors, are clear of obstacles.  Only approved security gates that open without a key may be installed on fire escape windows or secondary grade level exits. 
  5. Provide stove knob covers or permanent stove safety knobs with integrated locking mechanisms for gas powered stoves where a child under the age of six resides. Stove knob covers or permanent stove safety knobs with integrated locking mechanisms must also be provided to any household that request them.

For more information regarding fire safety requirements please visit https://www1.nyc.gov/site/fdny/codes/reference/reference.page , or for fire safety tips to share with tenants visit www.fdnysmart.org 

Proactive Self-Closing Door Inspection Program 

HPD will begin identifying buildings in the coming weeks for inclusion in the Proactive Self-Closing Door Inspection Program.  Under the law, HPD selects 300 buildings each year for proactive inspections, during which HPD will attempt to inspect all doors which are required to be self-closing. Where doors are noncompliant, appropriate violations will be issued. The last registered managing agent will be notified at the appropriate address provided on the property registration if your building is included in the program.  If you are not properly registered, you may miss this notice.  For more information on the selection criteria for this program, you can see Final Rules - HPD (nyc.gov).  As a reminder, self-closing door violations must be corrected within 14 days and HPD must reinspect to confirm correction within 20 days of the correction date.  When owners do not correct these violations and certify them timely as corrected, HPD’s Emergency Repair Program will attempt to make the repair.