Look For Forms To Update Billing Info
Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Mathew M. Wambua is reminding property owners and managing agents of multifamily residential buildings and certain one- and two-family homes that registration forms will be sent to them in late May and early June in preparation for meeting the new Aug. 31 deadline to register or update registration information for their property with the city.
In July, the HPD will release a new online application on the agency’s website where owners and agents will be able to create a portfolio of their properties to better manage the registration and update process.
“It is critically important for owners to keep their registration information up to date,” said Wambua. “We are instituting a single registration deadline to simplify the process. In addition, the online portfolio creation application that we are launching on the HPD website later in the summer should serve to make the annual registration and information update process easier. Accurate building registrations are essential to making emergency notifications and enforcing housing laws: ensuring that HPD has the correct contract information protects your rights as an owner and helps ensure that your tenants’ rights are also protected.”
Beginning this year, owners and agents will receive the registration form from HPD by early June. The establishment of a new single registration deadline of Aug. 31 aims to streamline the process for the agency and to make it easier for owners and agents, particularly those responsible for multiple properties. Additionally, HPD will no longer collect the registration fees: they will be billed directly to the property by the city Department of Finance (DOF) as a line item on the property’s July Statement of Account.
While the registration deadline and billing method have changed, the information required for registration remains the same.
Residential properties that are re- quired by law to be registered with HPD are multiple dwelling buildings with three or more residential units; or a non-owner occupied one- or twofamily house. One- and two-family homes are only required to register if neither the owner nor the owner’s immediate family resides there.
Valid property registration requires both the submission of a completed property registration form to HPD, and payment of the registration fee to DOF. Registrations for these properties must also be filed whenever ownership changes or whenever the information on a valid registration changes (i.e. new managing agent or site management).
Property owners who fail to validly register their buildings put themselves and their tenants at a disadvantage by making it difficult for the HPD to keep in contact with their approved managing agents and emergency contacts. Where properties are not validly registered owners and agents may not receive complaint notifications, notices of violations issued, or other notices issued by the HPD regarding Housing Code enforcement activities. Owners will not be allowed to certify violations as corrected or to file for Dismissal Request inspections to have open violations removed.
The HPD may also issue violations for failure to register, which can result in legal action against a property owner in Housing Court seeking registration as well as civil penalties. In addition, owners may not be able to file actions in Housing Court without being properly and validly registered.
Additionally, without valid registration information on file, owners my not receive updates to Housing Maintenance Code requirements, new regulations, and other important notices from the HPD. A lack of current registration information also makes it extremely difficult for the HPD to contact owners or agents in emergency situations such as severe weather, fires, issuance of vacate orders, and other important events that affect the properties.
In July, the HPD will launch a new application on its website through which owners and agents can create an online portfolio of their properties. The new application will allow for:
– Easy updating of key information for an entire portfolio of properties. The form will still need to be printed and signed/dated appropriately, but the update will be quick and easy.
– Reviewing history and ability to view submitted forms.
– Creating new forms.
For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/hpd or call 311.
