Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani has issued Executive Order 08, titled "Protecting Tenants from Rental Ripoffs and Abusive Landlord Practices." The order outlines a series of actions aimed at addressing tenant concerns, improving housing quality, and enhancing the enforcement of housing and consumer protection laws within New York City. The order takes effect immediately.
Rationale for the Order
The executive order states that a majority of New Yorkers are tenants who require safe and habitable homes. It cites concerns regarding property owner practices, including code violations, untimely repairs, noncompliance, fees, and pricing. The order indicates that practices related to fees, retaliation, housing conditions, discrimination, eviction processes, and repair responsiveness impact tenant and consumer rights, raising concerns about affordability, safety, and health within the City, and affecting the City's economy.
Key Provisions of Executive Order 08
1. Establishment of Public Hearings:
- The Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants (MOPT), the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the Department of Buildings (DOB), and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), in coordination with the Office of Mass Engagement (OME), are mandated to organize and conduct a series of public hearings.
- These hearings will gather input from tenants, tenant organizations, social services agencies, advocacy organizations, legal service providers, landlords, property managers, and other public members.
- The objective is to collect information on landlord practices and identify operational improvements for housing and building code enforcement.
- At least one hearing must be conducted in each of the five boroughs within 100 days of the order’s issuance.
2. Inter-Agency Cooperation:
- All mayoral agencies with relevant expertise or upon MOPT’s request, including the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement and the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics, are directed to cooperate with MOPT, HPD, DOB, and DCWP to facilitate and coordinate these hearings.
- MOPT is tasked with requesting the participation of the New York City Commission on Human Rights in these hearings.
3. Public Report Submission:
- Within 90 days of the final public hearing, MOPT, HPD, DOB, and DCWP must submit a joint summary and report to the Mayor.
- This report will detail common themes and issues raised by the public during the hearings.
- It will also propose a plan for the City to address landlord practices through existing enforcement powers, improved housing and building code enforcement, consumer protection powers, and policy changes.
- The plan's design aims to ensure violations are logged and corrected on a significantly faster timeline and will include enhanced coordination among agencies and with the public.
- The report will be publicly accessible on the webpages of MOPT, HPD, DOB, and DCWP.
4. Enforcement Priorities:
- All mayoral agencies, including MOPT, HPD, DCWP, DOB, and the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, are instructed to prioritize the enforcement of laws protecting tenants and the provision of relief to individuals affected by identified landlord practices.
- These agencies must engage the New York City Commission on Human Rights as necessary to ensure compliance with the New York City Human Rights Law.