ATTENTION RESIDENTIAL LANDLORDS

On October 3, 2019 Governor Cuomo signed bill A2118 into law, mandating that for all leases moving forward, landlords must accept lease termination notices for tenants living with a "disability" as defined by law, or for the spouse or dependent of a tenant with a disability, should the tenant need to relocate to one of the following:

• An adult care facility;
• A residential health care facility;
• Subsidized low income housing; or 
• A residence of a family member.

More discrimination lawsuits are on the horizon in NYC based upon the City's Commission of Human Rights new enforcement guidelines concerning immigration status and national origin.

Landlords, merchants, and employers now face up to $250,000 in fines for using terms and phrases like "illegal alien", "alien", and "speak english" when used in the context meant to demean, humiliate, or offend.

In their press release, the NYC Commission of Human Rights provided hypothetical examples of discriminatory behavior, including:

• Harassing a restaurant patron because of their accent;
• Refusing repairs on a unit occupied by an immigrant family and threatening to call ICE if they complain;
• Paying a lower wage or withholding wages to workers because of their immigration status; and
• Harassing a store customer by telling them to stop speaking their language and demanding they speak English.

*ATTENTION LANDLORDS AND EMPLOYERS* - your teams must be trained in the different forms of discrimination and harassment to avoid fines, lawsuits, and bad publicity.

Super Lawyers Recognized 4 Attorneys from Lieb at Law, P.C. for 2019 Honors. Only 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state are named to Super Lawyers Rising Stars. Congratulations to Dennis Valet, Andrew Matthew Lieb, Steven M Siliato and Mordechai Yankovich.

https://www.superlawyers.com/about/selection_process.html

NYC COMMERCIAL LANDLORDS BEWARE! 

Discrimination lawsuits are coming if your teams are not trained to comply with the new NYC commercial tenant harassment laws. 

On 9/25/19, the New York City Council increased commercial tenant harassment fines to a minimum of $10,000 a maximum of $50,000—a ten fold increase from the previous fines that ranged from $1,000 to $10,000. 

The bill passed by the Council also expands on the definition of "tenant harassment" to include: 

• Requesting identifying documents that would disclose the citizen status of a tenant;
• Threatening a tenant based on factors including age, race, gender, disability status, or sexual orientation; and 
• Unreasonably refusing to cooperate with a tenant's permitted repairs or construction activities. 

This expands on the prior prohibitions of denying utility services, removing tenant property, limiting a tenant's access to space, or repeatedly engaging in frivolous lawsuits against tenants. 

Landlords, before taking action in tenant disputes, you should have your teams trained on the different forms of discrimination and harassment to avoid hefty fines.

ATTENTION LLC Owners

LLC sellers & buyers of residential property (1-4 family houses) will no longer be able to hide their identities.

Transfer tax returns submitted by LLCs, as required when transferring real estate, will no longer be accepted by the clerk's office unless submitted with the names and addresses of all members, managers, shareholders, directors, officers, partners, and other authorized agents.

Check out the full bill here and understand that you can no longer hide your identity in a residential real estate deal in the State of New York.