Innovative Law Will Require Housing Improvements for Presence of Designated Asthma Triggers and Will Increase the Number of Housing Units Captured By the Safe Housing Act

January 5, 2011, New York – At today’s Stated Council meeting, members of the City Council will vote to greatly expand the criteria for the Alternative Enforcement Program (AEP), a tool of the Safe Housing Act designed to focus on the top 200 properties that generate a significant level of enforcement activity at the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). Today’s changes will now specifically designate asthma triggers, including mold conditions and vermin infestation, as conditions mandating improvement will both increase the number of housing units that are captured by the law and identify new conditions requiring improvement.

“The New York City Council is committed to providing all New Yorkers with safe and healthy housing,” said Speaker Christine C. Quinn. “Today’s enhancements of the Safe Housing Act greatly expand the scope of this protective housing law by capturing more distressed units and by including asthma triggers as conditions that must be removed. Today’s action shows that when different branches of government collaborate together and partner with city advocates, we can make a real, acute impact on the lives of thousands of New Yorkers.”

The current Safe Housing Law captures more than 1,000 units in the 200 identified buildings every year. Under the expanded legislation, the criteria for selection will be updated to include a greater number of buildings with 20 or more units. These changes will double the number of units identified for improvements, to a total of nearly 3,500.

The legislation also amends discharge criteria to allow buildings to be released from the program where owners have entered into payment agreements and have met the necessary criteria for correction of violations. Previously building owners were required to reimburse all AEP fees in one lump sum payment. This change will prevent the City from accruing extra costs while buildings sit in the program, allow for the collection of fees in a timely manner, and allow owners to focus on maintaining their property rather than paying down mounting fees.

In 2007, the City Council passed groundbreaking legislation that took a targeted approach at improving the worst living conditions for New Yorkers throughout the five boroughs. Landlords of these distressed buildings are put on notice that comprehensive repairs must be made. If they are not, HPD is authorized to undertake a thorough cellar-to-roof review of the building, make the necessary repairs, and to bill the landlord for that work. After repairs are made, ongoing monitoring ensures that buildings do not fall back into disrepair and that necessary maintenance is made by the landlord.

“With this legislation, we acknowledge that mold and rodent infestation, conditions that make a major contribution to the asthma epidemic in New York City, are as serious housing violations as other major code infractions,” said Council Member Rosie Mendez, Chair of the Public Housing Committee and co-sponsor of the bill. “I am very pleased that we will expand the Safe Housing Act to include these asthma triggers, so we can better understand their real impact on families that live in substandard housing.”

“Numerous buildings exist in New York City with dangerous physical and health-related conditions, which house thousands of tenants made up mostly of low-income families,” said Council Member Letitia James, co-sponsor of the Safe Housing Act. “The Safe Housing Act overhauled how the City handles code enforcement, as well as forces landlords to pay back costs for building upgrades. By expanding this historic legislation the City will not only continue to repair entire building systems in chronically troubled properties, but will also double the number of units in need of repairs from past years. Also, we will gain strength against uncooperative landlords with property issues that can cause serious illness, specifically asthma. This Act is a tremendous victory because the quality of housing will be greatly improved for many residents.”

“I am very pleased that the proposed legislation will expand the Council’s ongoing efforts to strengthen housing code enforcement, which will have a direct impact on the living conditions of thousands of New Yorkers,” Council Member Gale Brewer said. “In 2005, I started the process by negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding between the Council and Mayor, establishing the Building-wide Inspection Program to target serious housing conditions in each Council District. HPD, in partnership with not-for-profit community groups, conducted comprehensive building-wide inspections in as many as thirty multiple dwellings containing a maximum of four hundred dwelling units per District. I know how important it is to expand The Safe Housing Act, to bring more buildings up to code and preserve the affordable units.”

###