What NYC Property Management Companies Should Know About NYC's Smoking Policy On Residential Buildings

On August 28, 2018, the City of New York has placed as the deadline for all owners of all Class A multiple dwellings, including all cooperative corporations and condominiums to adopt a “smoking policy.  Local Law 147/2017 requires all buildings with 3 or more units to adopt a written policy with regarding to smoking on the premises.  What should be taken into account is that that smoking in the common areas of residential buildings such as lobbies and hallways has already been prohibited.  Also of note, this is not a smoking ban but a policy of smoking in residential units.  Property management companies in New York City should advise their boards in either condos and co-ops and owner of rental units of the upcoming Local law enactment.  They should also start preparing for the implementation in written form.

For condominium and co-operatives, it is implied that the board of managers (condos) or board of directors (co-ops) should adopt a written smoking policy and incorporate it into their by-laws as they would be considered owners. The law provides that “in a condominium, the board of managers shall incorporate the building’s smoking policy into the condominium by-laws or rules” and “in a cooperative apartment corporation, the board of directors shall incorporate the building’s smoking policy into the by-laws or rules of the cooperative apartment corporation.”  This issue that will become central is how will the boards have the ability to amend by-laws without unit owner or shareholder approval.  Amending the proprietary lease in co-ops will also be difficult and most of the time requires a super-majority of owners to do so.  How these boards resolve this issue is one that will be further analyzed as their policies get scrutinized by the City.

So now let's look at how the notice requirement can be met on this rule:
For purposes on residential buildings that are strictly rental the rules are the same without having board approval first which is necessary for condos and coops.  Once a board adopts a policy for smoking, it must be disclosed by “owner” to all “tenants”.  Tenants includes subtenants as well.  The smoking policy must either be provided to each tenant or posted in a prominent location.  A copy of the smoking policy must be provided to all tenants on an annual basis. The annual distribution can be given either by providing a copy to each tenant or by posting the notice in a conspicuous place.

For new tenants or resident the law provides that the condominium unit owner and cooperative tenant-shareholder incorporate the smoking policy into “any agreement to rent or purchase the dwelling unit or shares in the cooperative apartment corporation”.  Therefore it should be incorporated into all new leases going forward.
The penalties for not complying with Local Law 147 can be costly.  Specifically initial penalties will be between $200 and $400 for a first violation.  Second violations will be between $500 and $1,000 in a period of twelve months and between $1,000 and $2,000 for a third and subsequent violations in a period of twelve months.

With right amount of planning complying with new smoking policy in New York City should not be difficult.  For more information on Managing Smoke Free Rental you can click here.

Blue Harbour Property Management is a full service NYC property management company servicing the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx.  Whether it be a 1 bedroom condo or multi-family building we are able to assist our clients maximize their investments.

Slowdown underway with Manhattan Real Estate Sales Prices. Buyers finding more Bargains

In a decline that the industry has no doubt seen coming, Manhattan resale home prices have declined the most in the last four years.  According to a Bloomberg article, the median price of previously owned condominiums and co-ops fell 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier to $900,000.  It was the first annual decline in this sector since the beginning of 2015, and the biggest since the third quarter of 2012.  Resales dropped 8.1% in that quarter.

This is a growing sign that sellers have diminished expectations for the quick sale and there will be a growing need for correctly pricing inventory to market needs.  The days of overpricing seem to be of the past as the number of resales has been dropping for the previous five quarters and buyers are are reluctant to invest in the more costly listings.

Corcoran Group reported that all completed sales, including previously owned and newly built homes, dropped 15 percent from a year earlier to 3,104. Signed contracts also slid 15 percent. Downtown Manhattan, below 34th Street through Tribeca, was an exception. Sales in that area climbed 11 percent to 983. Inventory jumped 33 percent to 1,826 listings, according to the brokerage.  Also, previously owned properties that sold in the period spent an average of 80 days on the market, up from 71 days a year earlier. It has also been reported that Manhattan resale deals totaled 2,385 which is a decline of 1.5 percent.

Property management companies in Manhattan will have to invest more time in making sure accommodations and customer service are of value benefit as an additional incentive to buyers.  It will assist sellers in an accurate pricing method when sitting down with realtors and potential purchasers when the time is right.

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