Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022.Tenants in rent-regulated apartments say they’re left languishing for months — if not years — on a decision from the state agency charged with investigating landlord overcharge complaints as backlogs persist and rents in New York reach new highs.
Thomas had spent 18 months looking for an apartment he could afford when he finally found one in 2017 that was close to his new job at Columbia University. Persistent water leaks, vermin, and holes in the wall raised Thomas’ suspicions, so he finally asked the DHCR for the unit’s rent history and found out that the previous tenant had paid $1,261 a month, almost half of what his rent was.“The landlord never gave me any explanation and DHCR was radio silent other than a docketing notification that came two weeks later,” Thomas said.
The Met Council on Housing, one of the city's oldest tenant advocacy groups, said that it usually sees the process take two to four years before a decision is handed down on an overcharge complaint, but it’s not unusual for it to take four years or longer. In the last five years, the Office of Rent Administration has returned nearly $12.6 million in rent to overcharged tenants, Sochet said.
“They’ve had lots of retirements of long-term people and they’ve had trouble filling positions and keeping up with the workload,” said state Sen. Brian Kavanagh of Manhattan, who chairs the chamber’s housing committee.investigating overcharge complaints, it now has 31, according to Sochet.
Prohibit NYC dog owners from having their dogs defecate & urinate on city sidewalks. It’s become excessive. A health hazard. A destruction of our quality of life. Either enforce curbing the dogs (in the street to be picked up) or require it to be done in their homes. NYCesspool
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