Your landlord is responsible for keeping your home and building safe and livable at all times. This is called the “Warranty of Habitability.” Having a record of notifying your landlord makes for a stronger legal case. If your landlord has already been unresponsive to your requests to make repairs, a letter is a great tactic […]
As a shareholder in a co-op building (especially if you’re an owner serving on the co-op board), it’s important you know about HDP violations. New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development issues these violations for infractions ranging from leaky refrigerators to heating system failure. And the enforcement of these quality of life laws […]
In a previous post, we discussed the basics of what landlords need to know about violations issued by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). And while regular maintenance and solid management are your best defense against notices from the HPD (sometimes easier said than done), their inevitability is part of […]
More than just being a nuisance, a heat wave can be harmful to your health. And with climate change causing rising temperatures, heat advisories during the summer are becoming the new normal. Here’s a heat advisory map for the U.S. Last week in New York, cooling centers—indoor, air-conditioned spaces for public use—opened up for use […]
It’s not just your imagination, summers really are getting hotter–especially if the current scorcher is any indication. Therefore, it’s more important than ever for you as a homeowner or seller to make sure your brownstone is equipped for record high temperatures if you want to attract high potential tenants. Here’s what you need to know […]
Are you eligible for a free air conditioner to help ride out the coming heat wave? If you’re interested, it’s better to find out ASAP because funds for free air conditioners are awarded on a first come first serve basis. In 2022, funds ran out by July 8th. New York City is currently experiencing soaring […]
Pollen counts are at their peak in NYC in April, May, and September. So even if you’re still feeling them now, we’re sorry to say that you only have a short reprieve before you get hit with them in in a few months. Of course, you can take over-the-counter medications to calm your symptoms or […]
Dust is a serious health hazard. Long-term exposure to high levels of dust in your NYC home can trigger asthma, allergies, headaches, dizziness, nausea, or even make you snore. It can also make your appliances less functional, clogging up your air conditioner and damaging your air quality. Regular cleaning is the obvious solution to keeping […]
Thanks to the new Good Cause Eviction Law, many New Yorkers are now protected from eviction or big rent hikes as of April 20th. What this means is that landlords must have a good reason to evict a market-rate tenant, and are now required to justify raising a tenant’s rent by a certain threshold. (Previously, […]
One of the biggest challenges in the current real estate market is the lack of inventory. What do you do if you’re a homebuyer and there are only a handful of properties in your location and price range with the features you want? There are a lot of people who are stuck in this cycle, […]
