08/05/2019
“ Landlord- Tenant Law “
1. Landlords Must Mitigate Damages: A landlord is obligated to mitigate its damages in the event a tenant breaks a lease. For instance, a landlord must now attempt to re-lease the premises.
2. Security Deposits Limited to 1 Month: In non-rent stabilized units, a deposit or advance shall not exceed the amount of one month’s rent.
3. Application Fees are Prohibited: A landlord cannot seek any payment for the processing, review, or acceptance of a rental application.
4. Background Fees are Capped: Reimbursement for background and credit checks are limited to the lesser of the actual cost or $20.
5. Late Payment Fees are Also Capped: A late fee must be the lesser of $50 or 5% of monthly rent.
6. Self-Help is Criminalized: It is now a class A misdemeanor for a landlord to evict or attempt to evict a tenant who has occupied a dwelling unit for 30+ consecutive days without a warrant of eviction or order of a court. Civil penalties can range from $1,000 to $10,000 for each violation.
7. Strengthened Protections Against Retaliatory Evictions: A landlord cannot serve a notice to quit or commence an eviction proceeding against a tenant who made a good faith complaint to the landlord or landlord’s agent about the warranty of habitability, duty to repair, or other law.
8. Notice: A landlord must now provide tenants with notice ranging from 30 days to 90 days if the landlord intends to increase rent by 5% or more or does not intend to renew the tenancy.
EVICTIONS
1. Damages in Eviction Proceedings are Limited: Additional rent, fees, charges, penalties, and costs are no longer recoverable from a tenant in an eviction proceeding.
2. Grounds for Eviction can be Rendered Moot if Tenant Makes Full Payment Prior to Hearing.
3. Stays for Warrants: A tenant can halt issuance of a warrant of eviction for a period of up to one year, increased from six months.
4. Timing of Eviction Proceedings: Time periods for eviction proceedings were modified and often increased to the tenant’s benefit. For example, a landlord must give 14 days written notice (up from three) demanding rent or possession prior to commencing a proceeding; tenant now has the right to adjourn trial for 14 days as of right; officer executing warrant must deliver 14 days written notice prior to evicting a tenant(s).
5. New Defense to Eviction Proceedings: A landlord or its agent must provide written notice to a tenant of late rental payments not received within five days of the due date. Failure to deliver written notice can be raised as a defense in a later eviction proceeding.
