Public Advocate to Partner with SBLS to Hold Landlords Accountable

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio yesterday launched an 8-point
housing plan to hold the city’s worst landlords accountable for
repairing their buildings. The set of initiatives will bar chronically
bad landlords from receiving taxpayer dollars and mobilize tenants in
deteriorating buildings. The plan also includes an innovative
partnership with South Brooklyn Legal Services (a program of Legal Services NYC) to provide pro bono help
in housing
court, and will alert apartment-hunters on Craigslist.org about
landlords with a history of neglect. SBLS Housing Unit
Co-Director Brent Meltzer appeared on NY 1 to talk about the obstacles
tenants face when they try to hold landlords responsible for repairs.

Click here for coverage of the April 4th press conference.

The 8-point plan includes:

• An pilot project with South
  Brooklyn Legal Services to recruit private sector law firms to help
  law-abiding tenants navigate housing court, pro bono
• City legislation to bar landlords
  with a long history of severe housing violations from receiving taxpayer
  dollars through rent programs like Section 8 and Advantage
• A
  partnership with the Department of Citywide Administrative Services to
  prevent new City office space leases from being issued to landlords on
  NYC’s Worst Landlords Watch List
• Listing NYC’s Worst Landlords Watch List on Craigslist.org as a resource for apartment-hunters
• Working
  with the New York City Housing Authority to reduce paperwork
  requirements and streamline the process for responsible landlords who
  have made repairs
• The extension and expansion of rent regulations, which expire in June 2011
• Sending field organizers into troubled buildings to help form new tenant associations
• State
  legislation sponsored by Senator Liz Krueger to establish mandatory
  minimum fines for the most severe category of housing violations, like
  failing to provide heat

Housing and landlord complaints are the number-one reason New Yorkers
call 311. More than 172,000 complaints about lack of heat alone flooded
the system this winter.

“We need to change New York’s approach to holding chronically bad
landlords accountable,” said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. “We need to
creatively use the tools we have right at our fingertips so that more
New Yorkers can finally live in safe apartments.”

“In theory, tenants do not need an attorney to enforce housing code
standards in Housing Court. In practice, tenants do not have attorneys
and landlords do, so an unscrupulous landlord can raise numerous
procedural barriers that stop tenants from getting repairs completed,”
said Brent Meltzer. “At South Brooklyn Legal Services, we do not have the
resources to help the crush of tenants in need of legal support. That is
why we are excited to partner with Public Advocate de Blasio to help
level the playing field in Housing Court between tenants and their
landlords.”

Last August, Public Advocate de Blasio launched NYC’s Worst Landlords
Watch List to shine a spotlight on repeat offenders whose buildings have
fallen into dangerous disrepair. The online Watch List currently lists
418 buildings owned by 323 distinct landlords. As part of the
initiatives announced today, Public Advocate de Blasio’s NYC’s Worst
Landlords Watch List will be expanded so that tenants can easily network
with others who live in different buildings but share the same
landlord.

The enhanced NYC’s Worst Landlords Watch List is available at: www.landlordwatchlist.com.