In August, Mayor de Blasio signed 18 tenant safety bills into law. One new bill, 1133, will require the Department of Buildings (DOB) to withhold work permits when there is a certain amount of charges unpaid to the city.
Intro. 1133, “require[s] the Department of Buildings to withhold building permits for certain properties where $25,000 or more in unpaid charges are owed to the city or where the owners of such properties owe, in aggregate, $25,000 or more in unpaid charges to the city.”
Types of Permits that will not be issued if $25,000 or more is owed to the city:
- New Building
- Demolition
- Place of Assembly
- Alteration Type One
“Covered arrears” may include any of the following, but shall not include any such items that are currently in the appeals process:
1. Unpaid fines, civil penalties or judgments entered by a court of competent jurisdiction or the environmental control board pursuant to chapter 2 of this title or chapter 2 of title 28 of the code; and
2. Unpaid and past due fees or other charges lawfully assessed by the commissioner.
EXCEPTIONS TO THE BILL:
- The commissioner may issue a permit for a property if the applicant submits a certification from the department of finance that binding agreements are in force requiring payment of all covered arrears owed by the owners of such property, and such owners are in compliance with such agreement.
- The commissioner may issue a permit for a property where the issuance of such permit is necessary to correct an outstanding violation of this code, the housing maintenance code or any other applicable provisions of law or rule or where the commissioner determines that issuance of such permit is necessary to perform work to protect public health and safety.
- The commissioner may issue a permit for a portion of a property occupied by a tenant who is not an owner of such property or responsible for any covered arrears owed with respect to such property.
- The commissioner may issue a permit, for a dwelling unit within a property that is owned by a condominium or held by a shareholder of a cooperative corporation under a proprietary lease, if the owners of record for such unit do not owe, in aggregate, $25,000 or more in covered arrears to the city.
- The commissioner may issue a permit where a property was the subject of an in rem foreclosure judgment in favor of the city and was transferred by the city to a third party pursuant to section 11-412.1 of the code.
- The commissioner may issue a permit where a property is the subject of a court order appointing an administrator pursuant to article 7-a of the real property actions and proceedings law in a case brought by the department of housing preservation and development.
- The commissioner may issue a permit where a property is the subject of a loan provided by or through the department of housing preservation and development or the New York city housing development corporation for the purpose of rehabilitation that has closed within the five years preceding the application for such permit.
- The commissioner may issue a permit for a property where the department of housing preservation and development or the New York city housing development corporation notifies the commissioner that the permit is required for participation in a program that involves rehabilitation of such property.
A new section, 28-105.5.2, has also been added to Article 105 of title 28 of the administrative code of the city of New York to state the requirement of a certification in all permit applications by the owner of the property the permit is being sought for and what constitutes as a proper certification.
Do you have open violations on your property? Avoid project delays by having Milrose resolve these for you. Contact us by email at inquiry@milrose.com or by phone at 212.643.4545.
