Chair Hudson asks about challenges with landlords and repeat offenders

And then, you know, we've already mentioned sort of some of the anecdotes with the challenges that we've heard about directly from constituents

and also difficult landlords, you know, who are not making repairs.

What are some of the challenges that DSS faces in working with landlords, especially when it comes to ensuring that tenants are living in safe conditions?

I mean, I think we, you know, we make it very clear, and I think through our really structured inspection process, that we expect a level of professionalism and care from our landlords, right?

And that anyone, you know, moving out with a city FEPS voucher should, you know, have the same care and treatment and responsiveness to their apartment as any other New Yorker.

And so, you know, during that process where we're doing the inspections, we obviously have more sort of leverage and oversight with the landlords in regards to, right, approval of the unit to be utilized in the program.

We do also, when individuals are leaving shelter, right, really let them know also what their rights are once they move out, right?

Once you're a permanent resident, we don't.

Have as much of insight necessarily into the relationship with the landlord, but we make sure that everyone understands that, you know, what your rights are and how you can report issues where landlords are not being responsive

to you in regards to conditions and other things that should be addressed in the apartment.

Do you have any sort of formal process for, or let's call it an exit ramp for landlords that have a history of

refusal to do repairs or any of these complaints, consistent, you know, major failures?

Major issues that are causing them to fail inspections and so forth.

Is there a formal process for removing those landlords?

So there isn't, I don't want to misspeak necessarily, there isn't a removal process that is currently in place of that.

There are some things we're looking at internally around, I think, assessment process for landlords who come to us with new units who we may have had issues in the past.

We can follow up on.

So I don't want to misspeak right here in regards to that.

Maybe removal isn't the most accurate way to express this.

But essentially, is there a process when you know that somebody is a repeat offender?

You know, for not renting more units from them or continuing to rent those units?

Where, yeah, we're currently looking at what would be a process that sort of aligns within, you know, allowability of identifying landlords who have potentially had

problematic units in the past or challenges engaging with the program and following the appropriate rules and expectations.

We can follow up with some more details.

Okay.

And then, I mean, this is just coming to me, so forgive me.

Sure.

But do you know of...

Any folks in the program that are on the worst landlords list?

I would have to get back to you on that.

I just, I can't, I don't want to speak specifically.

I would want to check.

You look like you have an answer.

No, I don't have an answer to the problematic landlords, but we are working on a landlord elevation escalation list, but it's not related to landlords that are...

That poor character, it's around criminality and fraud.

And so we don't yet have a process for the bad landlords.

So it's administrator mentioned, we'll get back to you on that.

Councilmember Brewer is suggesting the use of AI to complete that process for you.

Okay.