Commissioner Levy details Fix the City enforcement initiative and OCA agreement
Levy describes the Fix the City initiative targeting 10 highly distressed portfolios, a new OCA directive expediting hearings for vacate order and 7A cases to five days, new heat complaint inspection protocols for the upcoming heat season, and a new code inspection scheduling system for failed access attempts.
Since I last testified, we have launched Fix the City, a new initiative focused on combating historically and chronically negligent landlords.
Fix the City is leveraging a range of tools to increase enforcement efforts against 10 highly distressed portfolios, and we are working in partnership with the Department of Buildings and the Mayor's Office to protect tenants, as well as the Law Department, to advance this effort.
At the end of August, we announced a major step forward in partnership with the Office of Court Administration.
Under a new directive with regard to litigation brought against buildings subject to vacate orders, cases seeking 7A administrators, and comprehensive cases where essential services have been cut off to more than one-third of the building,
OCA has directed judges to schedule hearings within five days and to adjudicate these cases on an expedited timeline, granting adjournments only under extreme circumstances.
In July's rental ripoff,
report, we outlined a series of policy recommendations to improve HPD's 311 protocols.
For the first time this heat season, HPD will investigate all unit-specific heat complaints rather than a sample of units from a single building.
And starting this fall, HPD will launch a new code inspection protocol for circumstances when attempts to gain access are unsuccessful.
Under the new system, tenants may receive a message allowing them to call HPD and schedule a second inspection at a specific time and date.
We are also looking forward to working with the Council to explore improvements to the Housing Maintenance Code, including how we address pest infestation, mold remediation, and revisiting what types of violations justify legally withholding rent.
The agencies have been meeting internally, and we will launch regular convenings with members of the council and external stakeholders later this month.