In both New York City and the City of Yonkers, owners of income-producing property must file Income and Expense statements.   Failing to file these statements could result in penalties.

The New York City Department of Finance requires owners of certain types of income-producing property to file a Real Property Income and Expense statement if the actual assessed value of the property is more than $40,000.00.  The Department of Finance uses the information to estimate the market value of the property for tax purposes.

Generally, owners of the following major categories of properties are required to file:

1. Rental Properties, includes rental apartment buildings and commercial properties with one or more tenants;
2. Cooperatives, properties owned by a corporation that contains over 2,500 square feet of commercial space;
3. Condominiums, includes income-producing commercial condominium buildings or rented commercial and /or professional space in residential condominium buildings;
4. Business-Operating Properties, includes hotels and motels, parking garages and parking lots that are open to the public, department stores with 10,000 or more square feet of floor area, powers plants providing electricity for sale, and theaters and cinemas;
5. Net-Leased Properties, entire properties that are leased by the owner to an entity that pays the taxes and operating expenses.

The NYC Department of Finance advises that even if an owner’s property is exempted from the filing requirement, it may still be in the best interest of the owner to provide the information anyway.  Owners may file their Real Property Income and Expense statement electronically with the New York City Department of Finance.  The deadline for filing Real Property Income and Expense statements for the 2016-2017 tax year was June 1, 2016.

Failing to timely file a Real Property Income and Expense statement may result in a denial of a Tax Commission hearing to review your property’s assessment for the subsequent tax year.  Further, the New York City Department of Finance may substantially increase the owner’s real estate tax assessment for that year.  In addition to the above, the New York City Department of Finance is authorized to impose substantial monetary penalties for failure to file a Real Property Income and Expense statement.

In the City of Yonkers, Local Law #9 of 1993 requires a person or entity owning or leasing income-producing property to file an annual, Income and Expense statement with the City of Yonkers Assessment Department. Property owners that receive rental income from various types of property – including apartment houses, garages, commercial and professional condominiums, fueling stations,   and rented commercial, and/or professional space in residential condos or cooperative apartments – are subject to filing the Income and Expense form.

Despite this extensive list, certain types of property will not require an Income and Expense statement to be filed. Although a specific property does not require a filing, the property owner must still file an exclusion form.

James G. Dibbini & Associates, P.C., collectively, has over 20 years of experience in real estate law. If you want have any questions about your mandatory filings, or would like our office to prepare and file the statements on your behalf, please call us at (914) 965-1011, or email us at jdibbini@dibbinilaw.com, to schedule a consultation.

Deciding whether to hire an attorney and start a lawsuit against someone who has wronged you can be stressful and a little intimidating if you are not familiar with the stages of litigation. However, we have found that once we help our clients develop a legal strategy and walk them through the steps of litigation, they are a little less stressed with the process. Overall, there are three stages in the timeline of a case:

1. The Pleadings Stage: Generally, to start an action, you file a Summons and Complaint with the right Court and serve it on all the Defendants. The Complaint lists all the causes of action and the basis for your claims supported by relevant facts.  Depending on how the Summons and Complaint is served, the Defendants will have either 20 or 30 days to file and serve an Answer which is their response to your Complaint. The Defendants will admit, deny, or deny knowing anything about the facts and/or your claims in the Complaint. They may also raise defenses and/or allege their own claims against you. Once you receive the Answer, you will have an opportunity to draft, file and serve a Reply which is your response to any claims made by the Defendants.

2. The Discovery Stage: During this stage, each party attempts to gain more information about the case from the opposing side. Usually there will be a court appearance establishing dates for discovery. Parties will draft:          a) Discovery demands: requesting specific information including documents, pictures and witness lists                 b) Interrogatories: list of questions one party drafts for the opposing party to answer                                                 c) Depositions: interviews of witnesses, under oath, by one party’s attorney

3. The Trial Stage: The trial is the formal examination of evidence before a judge, and typically before a jury, in order to decide for and against the parties. The majority of cases never get to trial due to settlement and motion practice. Motions are usually filed throughout the litigation process by the parties and can result in the case being dismissed or a judge making a decision on the merits of the case before trial.

This breakdown is a general overview of the litigation process and it is important to note that litigation can take some time. From the filing of the Complaint to the trial stage it can take anywhere from six months to a few years depending on the type of case, number of parties, financial position of the parties, etc.

James G. Dibbini & Associates, P.C., collectively, has over 20 years of civil litigation experience. If you want us to help you develop your legal strategy or go over the litigation process in more detail, give us a call at (914) 965-1011 or email us at jdibbini@dibbinilaw.com to schedule a consultation.

On February 14, 2016, Governor Cuomo announced a new initiative aimed at “rooting out” housing discrimination.  The program, known as the Fair Housing Enforcement Program, will seek to identify and prosecute landlords, real estate brokers and other real estate professionals for acts of discrimination based on race, disability and disability accommodation, and other protected classes.  The program will focus on rental homes and apartments as well as real estate and cooperative apartment transactions.

The Fair Housing Enforcement Program will seek to identify acts of discrimination under the federal Fair Housing Act and New York State Human Rights Act, which both prohibit housing discrimination based on race disability, national origin and numerous other grounds.  If it is determined that a landlord, broker or other real estate professional may have discriminated, then, under the program, the government agencies will seek to investigate and prosecute wrongdoers.

The program will use undercover trained “testers” who present diverse racial, gender, economic and other backgrounds and pose as renters or home buyers to test for discriminatory bias.  Multiple testers will present similar income and career profiles to landlords and brokers to see if the treatment of one race, gender or group is different from that of another.  The Governor’s website discussing the initiative* states that these “fair housing testers” will come from “three fair housing agencies[.]” Upon a review of the websites of these organizations, the term “agency” appears to be misleading.  These organizations appear to be non-profit advocacy organizations tasked to combat discrimination in housing.  Although the work these organizations do is important and necessary, these organizations have lengthy histories in their communities and many have questioned whether these organizations can be unbiased or should be tasked with the responsibility of assisting and documenting situations which may lead to prosecution of alleged wrongdoers.

The sanctions for violations of housing discrimination laws vary and range from government fines to rent abatements and rent payment reductions to lawsuits for money damages.  Additionally, brokers who are found to have discriminated run the risk of being stripped of their broker’s license.

In Gov. Cuomo’s February 14 announcement of the new undercover program, the Governor also highlighted other anti-discrimination related issues.  First, the governor unveiled plans to have several state agencies promulgate new regulation broadening and clarifying discrimination “against individuals because of their relationship or association with members of a protected class.”  In short, this would make it easier for a victim to allege and prove discrimination against landlords and real estate professionals for discriminating against someone because that person is “associated” (friend, family member, co-worker, etc.) with a person that is a member of a protected group.  The governor also touted recent settlement of 123 discrimination cases which resulted in numerous rent abatements, rent reductions and fines against alleged wrongdoers.

It is clear that the governor is ratcheting up antidiscrimination activities by the administration, especially related to housing.  All landlords and real estate professionals should be aware of these changes and know what actions and statements are acceptable, and which are illegal actions and questions to ask potential candidates, in order to protect themselves.  In order to maintain compliance with the new initiative and regulations to come, you must be trained in the relevant law in order to avoid investigations, prosecution or suits.  Failure to anticipate these changes could result in financial sanctions and could threaten professional licenses even if perceived bias is unintentionally.  For help with training or preparing for these changes, to ask any questions or obtain legal representation against discrimination actions contact James G. Dibbini & Associates, P.C. at 914-965-1011 or visit our website at www.dibbinilaw.com.

You are a landlord and a disabled tenant has requested modifications/renovations to the apartment and/or building to accommodate their disability.  What is your duty to the disabled tenant?  You are a tenant and are or have recently become disabled.  What can you ask your landlord to do to accommodate you?

Applicable Human Rights Laws

Tenants with disabilities are protected against housing discrimination on the basis of mental or physical disability by various federal, state and local laws.  At the federal level, there is the Fair Housing Act and the American with Disabilities Act.  New York State has its own Human Rights Law and within New York State, there are local laws, such as the New York City Administrative Code and the Westchester County Human Rights Law.

The laws mentioned above specifically address a landlord’s responsibility to a disabled tenant who has requested an accommodation.  The general rule is that landlords have a duty to do all they can to reasonably accommodate a disabled tenant, but are not required to make changes that would create an undue financial and administrative burden.

What is a reasonable accommodation?

Reasonable accommodations are changes in rules, policies, practices, or services, or structural modifications, made to allow disabled tenants the equal opportunity to fully enjoy and use the dwelling or common space.  Reasonable accommodations fall into two categories: (1) structural modifications; and (2) policy/rule modifications.

As a landlord, you must allow a disabled tenant to make structural modifications to the residence as a reasonable accommodation.  Structural modifications to the interior of the residence are completed at the expense of the tenant.  Landlords may also request, as conditions to the modification, all work be completed in a workmanlike manner by a licensed, fully insured, contractor and the tenant restore the residence to the condition it was in prior to the modification, reasonable wear and tear excepted. In fact, in some circumstances, landlords may even require an escrow be posted by the tenant to ensure the residence will be restored when the tenant moves.  Some examples of structural modifications are: installing grab bars in the bath/shower area to allow easier and safer access; and widening doorways inside the apartment to accommodate a wheelchair.

Rights and duties to requests for structural modifications to common areas are more of a grey area.  Who pays for it and whether it is reasonable depends on the applicable law and the type of housing.  For example, in New York City, a landlord may be required to install and pay for a ramp at an entrance with steps or modify an entryway to allow for ease of access for all residents.  However, to determine whether the landlord is required to install at landlord’s expenses, considerations include whether: there would be undue burden on the landlord; the modification would require extensive reconfiguration and/or renovation; or the modification is architecturally impracticable.

Disabled tenants also have the right to reasonable modification of the landlord’s policies and/or rules so long as the change in policies/rules do not create an undue financial and administrative burden.  Examples of rule/policy modifications are: waiving a “no pet” policy where a tenant requests to keep an emotional support animal, guide dog, or hearing dog; accepting a reference from an employer or social worker during the application process if a tenant does not have a recent rent history because of a psychiatric hospitalization; and permitting a tenant’s health service provider to reside with the tenant.

Landlords must be extremely cautious when addressing a disabled tenant’s request for reasonable accommodation as failing to adequately respond or responding with improper questions or conduct could be a violation of applicable human rights laws resulting in liability such as investigations, filings, and/or suits for disability discrimination.  Tenants with disabilities who need accommodations should notify their landlord in writing and, likewise, the landlord should formally respond in writing.  It is important that landlords and tenants keep good records.

The laws related to reasonable accommodations have become increasingly complex and are litigated frequently and extensively in the courts.  Practicing landlord-tenant law for over 20 years, James G. Dibbini & Associates, P.C. has the experience and knowledge to navigate you through the complicated and overwhelming wealth of laws, cases and information on reasonable accommodations and other landlord-tenant related matters.  If you have any questions about reasonable accommodations, you recently received a request for reasonable accommodation, or you are being sued for disability discrimination, let us help you.  Give us a call at (914) 965-1011 or email us at jdibbini@dibbinilaw.com to schedule a consultation.

This James G. Dibbini & Associates, P.C. Newsletter is a publication of James G. Dibbini & Associates, P.C. All Rights Reserved. Quotation with attribution is permitted. This newsletter offers general information and should not be taken or used as legal advice for specific situations, which depend on the evaluation of precise factual circumstances. Please note that James G. Dibbini & Associates, P.C. does not undertake to update its publications after their publication date to reflect subsequent developments. Prior results do not guarantee a similar out- come. This publication may contain attorney advertising.