The Park West Tenant Vol. 44 No. 2, Newsletter of Park West Village Tenants’ Association, info @ pwvta.org April 2020

Patricia Loftman, President Daisy Wright, Secretary Dean Heitner, Vice President Miriamne Spector, Membership Kathi Black, Treasurer

COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered and continues to impact every part of our daily lives. Our neighbors, friends and families have been furloughed, lost jobs or had their work hours reduced. Many were unable to pay rent in April 2020, some for the first time in their lives. Others, in their capacity as health care workers, were summoned to extend themselves beyond what seemed like human capability. Teachers’ daily lesson plans were altered, leaving parents with a renewed appreciation for them. Mothers labored and birthed their babies without the loving arms of partners and spouses. Some of our most vulnerable seniors, many in nursing homes, made their transition alone. Life as we have known it no longer exists. The challenge for us all, now, is to continue to adhere to recommendations and engage in activities that will promote and sustain us all in good physical and emotional health.

Can NYC Landlords Raise Rents During The Pandemic?

Several landlords have indicated that they intend to be flexible if tenants can't pay their rent, including not asking for major increases. Rent-stabilized tenants must wait for the NYC Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) decision regarding the annual rent increases for rent regulated .

Market-rate tenants, however, are subject to the forces of supply and demand. They can be asked to pay more when it is time to renew their leases. For the full article click the following link: https://www.brickunderground.com/rent/coronavirus-covid-19-landlords-raise-rents-lease- renewal-during-the-pandemic-how-to-negotiate-nyc

All Market Rate Tenants Must Be Given Adequate Notice

But market rate tenants are entitled to up to 90 days' notice of a rent increase of more than 5 percent depending on how long they have lived in their . Tenants who have lived in their apartment for less than a year are entitled to at least 30 days’ notice, 60 days if the tenant has lived there between one and two years, and 90 days for longer-term tenants.

De Blasio Calls For Rent Freeze For NYC’s Rent-Stabilized Tenants

Despite calls for City to freeze or suspend rents for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic,

1 that has not happened. On the contrary, the City has indicated that it will move forward with determining the renewal rent increases of its nearly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments. Mayor Bill de Blasio, who had previously advocated for a suspension of the 2020 Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) review process, announced on Friday, April 10, 2020 that the RGB process will proceed remotely. However, he called on the RGB to enact a rent freeze instead of raising rents for New Yorkers. No decision has yet been made. https://ny.curbed.com/2020/4/10/21216746/nyc-rent-stabilization-apartment-rent-freeze https://nypost.com/2020/04/10/coronavirus-in-ny-de-blasio-orders-rent-freeze-for-regulated-nyc- apartments/

Rent Guidelines Board Will Be Holding Virtual Meetings To Determine Rent Increases For Leases Beginning October 1, 2020

The NYC Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) has posted its 2020 Meeting and Hearing Schedule for the first four public meetings. The RGB will be convening virtual meetings due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The initial schedule can be accessed: https://rentguidelinesboard.cityofnewyork.us/meetings/2020-meetings-and-hearings/

Additional meetings will be posted in the coming weeks. The first meeting was held on Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 9:30 AM. The Board discussed the 2020 Income and Expense Study and the 2020 Price Index of Operating Costs. The 2020 Price Index of Operating Costs examines costs related to operating the buildings such as taxes, fuel, insurance, utilities and building maintenance.

The public can attend these meetings using one of the methods below:

1. Livestream the meeting via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/RentGuidelinesBoard 2. Listen to the meeting via telephone: dial 646-558-8656, then, when prompted, enter Meeting ID: 910 5242 0683.

Public meeting: Thursday, April 30, 2020. 9:30 a.m. The Board will be meeting via videoconference to discuss the 2020 Income & Affordability Study and additional research reports.

Public meeting: Tuesday, May 5, 2020. 9:30 a.m. The board will hear testimony from invited tenant and owner groups via videoconference.

Preliminary Vote: Thursday, May 7, 2020. 7 p.m.

Information to attend future meetings will be announced and posted on the website at least 72 hours prior to each meeting. The RGB has also released the *2020 Income and Expense Study *which is available at: https://rentguidelinesboard.cityofnewyork.us/research/

The annual RGB reports will continue to be released on the RGB website and announcements will be sent when they have been posted. Thanks to : Andrew McLaughlin, Executive Director, NYC Rent Guidelines Board, 1 Centre Street, Suite 2210, New York, NY 10007, [email protected], for this information.

2

NYC Landlords Say Operating Costs Have Risen Justifying Rent Increases

When the RGB begins its annual review process on April 23, 2020, landlords are expected to claim that rent increases in rent regulated apartments are warranted. They will base their claim on the results of the 2020 Income and Expense Study that was published on April 15, 2020. According to The Study: • From 2017 to 2018, Net Operating Income (NOI), i.e. profit, declined 0.6% for the first time since 2002-2003. • Rental income increased an average of 3.7% from 2017-2018. • Total income increased an average of 3.6% from 2017-2018. • Operating costs increased an average of 5.8% from 2017-2018. https://rentguidelinesboard.cityofnewyork.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2020-IE.pdf

One tenant advocate pointed out during the meeting that the NOI increased for nearly 15 years even during an unprecedented affordability crisis, so the current slight dip was insufficient justification for rent increases. https://ny.curbed.com/2020/4/16/21223586/rent-guidelines-board-landlords-operating-cost-increase- nyc https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/nyc-rent-stabilized-landlords-see-costs-rise-push-for- rent-increases/ar-BB12K3FN?ocid=hplocalnews

NYC Tenant Groups Set For May 1, 2020

Housing advocates are organizing a massive rent strike for May 1, 2020 designed to pressure New York lawmakers to cancel rents during the COVID-19 pandemic. advocates hope as many as one million New Yorkers will participate in the rent strike to pressure Gov. Andrew Cuomo to cancel rent for the duration of the stay-in-place order, extended Thursday, April 16, 2020 to May 15, 2020, and through June 2020. Housing advocates’ demands also include a RGB rent freeze for 2020 and housing for about 92,000 homeless New Yorkers. To date, 2,166 renters and tenant leaders from buildings with about 1,100 apartments have signed up for the May 1, 2020 rent strike, according to Housing Justice For All (HJ4A) leadership. The hope is that New Yorkers who can pay their rent will refuse to do so in solidarity with those who cannot. While PWVTA will not be participating in the rent strike we recognize that many New Yorkers have been affected by COVID-19 and stand in solidarity with them. https://therealdeal.com/2020/04/16/tenant-groups-set-rent-strike-for-may-1/; https://patch.com/new- york/new-york-city/nyc-gears-coronavirus-crisis-rent-strike

New York State Court of Appeals Strikes Down A Provision of The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act 2019

A New York State Court of Appeals reversed a portion of last year's rent reform law that had expanded overcharge cases that tenants could bring. The court ruled that The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act 2019 (HSTPA 2019) which extended the statute of limitations for rent overcharge cases, reinstated the four-year statute of limitations.

Tenants will remember that The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act 2019 (HSTPA 2019) was extensively reviewed in The Park West Tenant September 2019 issue. The section reversed is below:

3

Extends Rent Overcharge Four Year Look-Back Period to Six Years Before June 14, 2019 After June 14, 2019 Previously the statute of limitations for tenants Effective Immediately and applies to pending to file for rent overcharges was four years and proceedings: Extends statute of limitations to six years did not allow looking at the rental history prior to from the current four years. Allows collection of six years the four-year period from the base date. The of damages, including six years of trebles rather than the base date was four years before the overcharge current two. Eliminates DHCR’s ‘safe harbor’ policy that complaint. allowed landlords to refund the overcharges when they got caught and then avoid treble damages. Courts and DHCR may consider ALL rent history that is ‘reasonably necessary’ for a determination. Allow the tenant to choose their forum. Owners do not have to keep old records BUT they destroy them at their own peril. Four-year rule exceptions – current RSC exceptions are now written into the RSL, plus: A new ‘reliability’ exception which includes whether ‘an unexplained rent increase’ renders a registration ‘unreliable.” RSC= Rent Stabilization Code

Prior to HSTPA, there was a four-year statute of limitations on rent overcharge cases and landlords were free to dispose of records older than that. The 2019 rent reform law did away with that statute of limitations allowing cases older than four years to be initiated. Landlords claimed the new law was problematic for them because they could suddenly face overcharge cases from many years back for which they no longer had documentation.

The New York State Court of Appeals ruled that the law cannot be applied retroactively. This rule impacts overcharge cases in three ways. First, the four-year statute of limitations on overcharge cases is reinstated. Only overcharge cases for the four years prior to filing an overcharge complaint can now be filed unless there is a “colorable claim of fraud.” The reason for this decision is because older cases involve files that landlords could have legally destroyed under the law prior to 2019. Second, the collection of six years of damages, including six years of treble damages, rather than the current two is reversed. Third, it reduces damages because courts cannot go back as many years to calculate overcharges.

However, the Court decision does not preclude a look-back period longer than 4 years for the purpose of determining whether a landlord fraudulently took an apartment out of rent-regulation. Such challenges are still allowable, although harder to prove as time goes by. https://therealdeal.com/2020/04/03/high-court-decision-has-tenants-stewing-landlords- oohing/?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=after_article&utm_campaign=related_article

DHCR Applications for the Columbus Avenue Buildings

The rent reduction applications for the three Columbus Avenue buildings were submitted to DHCR. PWV Acquisition, LLC received notification of the rent reduction applications and have 60 days to respond to DHCR. However, management will probably be granted an extension to respond due to the COVID-19 pandemic. PWVTA will keep tenants updated with the progress of the application as the complaint process proceeds.

4

PWV Acquisition, LLC MCI Applications for the Columbus Avenue Buildings

PWVTA attorney, David Hershey-Webb, requested and received an extension to respond to DHCR until April 9, 2020. In all likelihood, PWVTA will also be granted an extension to respond due to the COVID-19 pandemic. PWVTA will keep tenants updated with the progress of the application as the complaint process proceeds.

All New Yorkers Can Now Vote By Absentee Ballot

Gov. Cuomo issued an Executive Order that will allow all New Yorkers to vote by mail using an Absentee Ballot in the June 23, 2020 primary for various congressional and state legislative seats across the state. The Presidential primary had originally been scheduled for April 28, 2020 but needed to be postponed because of COVID-19. New York subsequently cancelled its Democratic presidential primary for 2020 on April 27, 2020 leaving only congressional and state legislative seats on the ballot. The Executive Order will hopefully prevent long lines at the polls that could put people at risk of being exposed to COVID-19.

Information on candidates and instructions for completing and returning the completed ballot can be found at: whosontheballot.org/

Requesting an Absentee Ballot: Online: An application can be downloaded at vote.nyc. Voters can also obtain an absentee ballot application online from the state Board of Elections (BOE), in English and Spanish. Mail: Voters can request an absentee ballot by mailing a letter to their local board of election postmarked between May 24, 2020 and June 16, 2020. May 24, 2020 is the earliest an absentee ballot can be requested by mail. Phone: voters can also request an application by calling 1-866-VOTE-NYC (1-866-868- 3692). The city BOE will then mail the voter a postage-paid application. All voters can designate someone else to pick up an application and absentee ballot if they have a valid reason for not being able to do so personally.

Filing Your Absentee Ballot: June 22, 2020 is the last day an absentee ballot application can be filed in person or postmarked by mail. If another person is designated to file the ballot, they must do so by June 23, 2020. A mailed ballot must be received by June 30, 2020 to count.

Voter Registration Deadlines: To vote in the primary, an individual must postmark a registration application by May 29, 2020. It must be received by the BOE by June 3, 2020. May 29, 2020 is also the last day to register in person at the BOE offices. A change of address will be processed if the BOE receives it by June 3, 2020.

Early Voting: Early voting is still scheduled to occur, from: Saturday, June 13, 2020 through Sunday, June 21, 2020. WhosOntheBallot.org will continue to monitor the process and provide updates as they become available.

5

Click WhosOntheBallot.org to find out if you are eligible to vote. Your registration status and your polling location can also be found here.

Park West Village Tenants’ Association 2020 Membership

These are challenging times for all of us and PWVTA recognizes the stress that COVID-19 might place on our members. Renewing your PWVTA membership may not be at the top of your priority list at the moment. The PWVTA membership year coincides with the calendar year January to December. PWVTA usually hosts our annual membership drive in the three Columbus Avenue buildings lobbies during the month of April. COVID-19, a public health crisis with economic consequences, will preclude our ability to host the membership drive this year as we comply with recommendations on social distancing.

PWVTA is aware and sensitive to the fact that many of our members might encounter financial challenges as a result of job dislocation and/or loss due to COVID-19. Your financial well-being is uppermost in the minds of The Executive Board. Consequently, considering these unforeseen challenges and in recognition of the potential financial challenges our members might face, The PWVTA Executive Board shares the following:

We thank those members who have already renewed their membership for the calendar year 2020. If you have not yet renewed your membership, we will welcome your renewed membership at a level that is comfortable for you. If you are unable to renew your 2020 membership just let us know by sending us an email to [email protected]. Please feel free to give your membership and the attached membership coupon to your building representative or you may mail your membership to:

2020 MEMBERSHIP COUPON TO YOUR PWVTA BUILDING REP [who: [email protected]] OR mail to: Park West Village Tenants’ Association, P.O. Box 20339, Park West Finance Station, New York, NY 10025-0339 PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY! Name______Building______Apt______Phone______Email ______ﬦ Check for 2020 membership dues enclosed payable to PWVTA □ $75 □ Other* $______□If you cannot make the full $75 payment of your annual dues, please just pay what you can. Your status: □ Rent-Stabilized Tenant □ Market-Rate Tenant □ Condo Owner Condo Owner: Check for 2020 Supporting Membership dues enclosed, payable to PWVTA □ $35 □ Check includes additional contribution to the PWVTA Legal Fund Amount $______* □ I want to be more involved. Here are my special interests: ______

You can also mail your membership directly to our Treasurer or just leave it under her door: Kathi Black 792 Columbus Avenue #16-T New York, NY 10025 Contact information for our building representatives is listed on our website.

You can also use online banking with your personal bank and request they mail a check made out to the Park West Tenants’ Association to either of the above addresses.

6