To Keep Up Appearances, Add Stability
Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Mathew M. Wambua announced the release of a request for qualifications (RFQ) to identify property managers to administer to buildings with significant challenges.
The HPD’s Division of Asset Management is responsible for overseeing privately-owned multifamily affordable housing projects that HPD has created or preserved over the past 20 years. On a case by case basis, HPD may require an alternate party step in to property management duties with the goal of ensuring quality housing for tenants and maintaining the long-term affordability and physical viability of the property.
Preservation is a tenet of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s New Housing
Marketplace Plan (NHMP). The plan is a multi-billion dollar initiative to finance 165,000 units of affordable housing for half a million New Yorkers by the close of Fiscal Year 2014.
For every dollar invested by the city, the plan has leveraged $3.41 in private funding, amounting to a total commitment to date of more than $19.4 billion to fund the creation or preservation of over 140,920 units of affordable housing across the five boroughs.
“Maintaining the city’s affordable housing stock is a key part of the New Housing Marketplace Plan. It is important that property managers around the city maintain their properties for the benefit of residents, their families and the city as a whole,” said Wambua. “HPD’s Division of Asset Management works to protect the investment of the City and our partners by holding owners responsible for their properties. New Yorkers deserve to have safe homes in which they can trust their property managers to keep the best interest of the community in mind.”
The HPD’s Division of Asset Management is responsible for ensuring the longevity and affordability of units the agency has created and preserved. Its programs are geared to proactively identifying at-risk buildings and portfolios and to stabilize mismanaged assets.
One of the division’s stabilization strategies involves requiring thirdparty property management of troubled buildings. Building owners may choose a pre-approved property manager from HPD’s quality property managers list.
Qualified property managers will assist in securing stability in poor performing buildings by marketing and leasing vacant apartments and maintaining rent rolls, financial statements and other required documents in accordance with HPD standards. Property managers must ensure the building meets obligations for building maintenance codes, manages financial liabilities, and income and rental guidelines as defined in HPD regulatory documents. Managers may also overseebuilding rehabilitation and capital improvements as needed.
Buildings requiring third-party management may vary in property size, number of units, and location. All buildings will include rent-regulated units, and have regulatory compliance requirements.
Buildings subject to a new property manager may have municipal debts at or more than $3,000 per dwelling unit and/or excessive building code violations. Buildings may also have rental collection rates below 85 percent, vacancy rates greater than 15 percent, and/or maintenance and operating costs per unit exceeding 65 percent of total revenue.
Buildings that demonstrate noncompliance with regulatory requirements, such as adherence to rent stabilization laws or timely submission of financial statements are also subject to new property management requirements.
Qualified property managers selected from this RFQ will be added to HPD’s list of recommended property managers. Applications received by Sept. 21 will be considered by HPD for inclusion on the initial list. After the first round, applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. The list will be updated quarterly.
For more information and to obtain a copy of the RFQ, visit HPD’s website at www.nyc.gov/html/hpd /html/developers/rfp.shtml .
