NY Association of Realty Managers: Seminar on Reasonable Accommodation Notice in Rental Housing

NYARM - SEMINAR: MARCH 31, 2021

TIME: 5:30PM – 7:00PM / REGISTRATION SIGNIN @5:00PM

COST: FREE

TOPIC: REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION NOTICE IN RENTAL HOUSING

NEW YORK STATE EXECUTIVE LAW 296.2-b AND 296.18-a

MODERATOR:

• MARGIE RUSSELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW YORK ASSOCIATION OF REALTY MANAGERS
• RONALD A. SHER, ESQ. - SEMINAR MODERATOR

I. TOPIC INTRODUCTION

• "The ABC's of Reasonable Accommodations"
• "A Fair Housing Primer: Accessibility & Accommodation"
• "Reasonable Accommodation Notice - New York State Executive Law"
• "Corporate Governance: Reasonable Accommodation Policy"
• "Implementation of Protocols & Establishment of Procedures"
• "Service Pets - Emotional Support Animals"
• "The Pitfalls and Problems - Dos & Don'ts - Warnings"
• "Avoiding Calamity, Catastrophe & Casualty - Averting Disaster"
• "Legal Issues & Claims: Directors & Officers Coverage"
• "Concerns & Consequences of Claims"

II. PRESENTATION - MODERATOR & PANELISTS:

• Ronald A. Sher, Esq. ras@himmelfarb-sher.com, Himmelfarb & Sher, LLP Tel: 914.682.0040
• Andrew M. Lieb, Esq. andrew@liebatlaw.com, Lieb at Law, PC Tel: 646.216.8009
• Carl L. Finger, Esq. carl@fingerandfinger.com, Finger & Finger, PC Tel: 914.949.0308
• Darryl M. Vernon, Esq. dvernon@vgllp.com, Vernon & Ginsburg, LLP Tel: 212.949.7300

III. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - OPEN DISCUSSION

IV. MATERIALS: (download here)

• NYSAG - Service Animals in Public Accommodations Brochure
• FAQ: NYC Commission of Human Rights - Emotional Support Animals
• FAQ: USDOJ - Services Animals
• Presentation: Accessibility Discrimination for Realty Managers – Andrew M. Lieb, Esq.
• Presentation: Reasonable Accommodations – Carl L. Finger, Esq.
• Presentation: Service Pets & Emotional Support Animals – Darren M. Vernon, Esq.

REGISTRATION:

• Email Margie Russell, NYARM's Executive Director the following information: Name, Company, Position, Email
• Zoom Waiting Room opens at 5pm on 3/31

Call 929 205 6099
Login: ZOOM LINK
Meeting ID: 995 4731 7998
Passcode: 189986

New Law Requiring Two Witnesses for Power of Attorney Forms

Starting on June 13, 2021, filing out a power of attorney is going to be a little more annoying.
Previously, the form just had to be signed, initialed, and dated by a principal with capacity, but now you are going to need 2 disinterested witnesses as well.
The new law, Senate Bill S888, is curiously only applicable to financial and estate planning, but why?
Its stated purpose is to provide extra protection against fraud and abuse, but how does adding 2 witnesses accomplish that?

Couldn’t you find witnesses to abuse the form too if that was your goal?
Isn’t this just another piece of lip service legislation?
Penalties are the answer, not witnesses, just saying…

UPDATE on New Tenant Disclosure Form on Reasonable Modification and Accommodation

As an update on our BLOG on the new law requiring a disclosure form on reasonable modifications and accommodations, Governor Cuomo just signed Senate Bill S867 which removes the requirement that all landlords conspicuously post the disclosure form in all vacant listings. According to the New York State Senate website, “this measure was seen as an excessive mandate on landlords and difficult to enforce uniformly.”

Also, the new law is now under Section 170-d of the Executive Law. It was previously passed under Section 296 of the New York State Human Rights Law. This change means the failure to serve the disclosure form is no longer a listed discriminatory practice under the New York State Human Rights Law. Thus, it is unclear whether any penalty or enforcement is available on the new law or if it is just another lip service law.

As to the disclosure form itself, you can now access the New York State Division of Human Rights’ published disclosure form HERE.

Fair Housing Education Now Mandatory for Appraisers

On March 17, 2021, NYS adopted a new regulation to be effective January 1, 2022, that mandates fair housing education as a condition of license renewal for appraisers.

The following subjects and number of hours are required under this new regulation:

(A) 7 Hour Introduction to Fair Housing and Fair Lending Instruction

        (1) Fair housing, fair lending requirements, and the history of lending, 2 hours

        (2) Development of appraisal (standard 1 USPAP), 1.5 hours

        (3) Reporting of appraisal reports (standard 2 USPAP), 1.5 hours

        (4) Case Studies, 2 hours

(B) 4 Hour Update to Fair Housing and Fair Lending Instruction

        (1) Fair housing, fair lending requirements, and the history of lending, 1 hour

        (2) Development of appraisal (standard 1 USPAP), 1 hour

        (3) Reporting of appraisal reports (standard 2 USPAP), 1hour

        (4) Case Studies, 1 hour

While it may be important to have additional fair housing education, how much education on fair housing is considered enough?

Should a 7-hour course on the introduction and a 4-hour update necessary to renew a license or certification, or should it be more or less?

Do you agree with NYS or how would you do it differently if you were in charge?

NY Employees are Entitled to Paid Leave to Receive COVID-19 Vaccine

To further encourage mass vaccination, the Governor signed Senate Bill S2588A into law, which requires employers to provide employees with a "sufficient period of time", but not more than four (4) hours, of paid leave to receive each COVID-19 vaccine injection. The law is effective immediately and expires on December 31, 2022.

Employers must pay employees at their regular rate of pay for all hours of vaccination leave and may not require employees to first use other entitled leave (e.g. NYS Paid Sick Leave, NYC Paid Sick and Safe Leave, Employer sick leave policy). 

The law is noticeably silent on what if any verification an employer can request from an employee to prove they received the vaccine during the leave and how much notice an employee needs to provide prior to using such leave. The Department of Labor has yet to issue guidance on these issues.

How much notice before taking leave do you think should be required?

Should employees be required to submit verification to employers that they actually used the leave to get vaccinated?

Real Estate Brokerage - 3/11/2021 NYS Board of Real Estate meeting summary

On March 11, 2021, the NYS Board of Real Estate continued its mission of optimizing the regulation of real estate brokers in our state by holding its meeting. 

To remind real estate brokers and salespersons, the public is welcome at these meetings where the public can bring comments from the floor. Its encouraged that Lieb School students attend these meetings to have your voices heard.

"[T]he Board has general authority to promulgate rules and regulations affecting real estate brokers and salespersons in order to administer and effectuate the purposes of Article 12-A of the Real Property Law."

A complete video of the meeting is available on youtube.

In summary, the following was discussed:

• 5 hearings that have been held by the DOS and 10 others that scheduled as a result of the Newsday Long Island Divided expose;
• Brokerages compliance with the Executive Orders about essential workers and safety in light of COVID;
• Communication with Complainants and Respondents about outcomes of Administrative cases; 
• Current real estate licensee numbers for February 2020 and February 2021 were provided in a report;
• 27 Schools have submitted course applications for the 2.5 hours of business ethics topic (Lieb School is one of these schools);
• 23 Schools have submitted course applications for the 1 hour of recent legal matters topic (Lieb School is one of these schools);
• 2020 Exam Results:
• Salesperson = 17,643 applicants with a pass rate of 59%
• Broker = 1,464 applicants with a pass rate of 65%
• Executive Order Updates:
• Extension of the Licenses continued through March 28, 2021
• Electronic Notarization of Documents continued through March 28, 2021

The next meeting will be Thursday, July 22, 2021 at 1PM.