HPD COMMISSIONER BEEN REMINDS RESIDENTIAL BUILDING OWNERS OF THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO REGISTER PROPERTIES WITH THE CITY

Annual Registration Period Is Now Open Until September 1st Deadline

HPD’s Online Property Registration Allows Owners to Create New Registration Forms or Update Previously Existing Forms

NEW YORK – July 6, 2016 – (RealEstateRama) — New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Vicki Been reminds property owners and managing agents of multifamily residential buildings and certain one- and two- family homes of their obligation to annually register their properties with HPD. City agencies rely on the contact information supplied in the registration for all official notifications, including notices of violation, as well as emergency notices in the event of an emergency at the property or a citywide emergency. The annual registration period is now open, and must be completed by the September 1st deadline. Registration forms may be completed online, signed, and submitted by mail. Building owners who do not obtain the form online will receive it through the mail. When the registration process is successfully completed, the property will be validly registered through August 31, 2017.

“It’s important that multi-family owners register their properties with HPD.  Not only is it in the best interest of your residents, it’s frankly a good business practice that will keep you informed and connected to the City’s official lines of communication, especially in the event of an emergency,” said HPD Commissioner Vicki Been.  “Failure to register places your tenants at risk and could result in civil penalties. Register your properties today.

Residential properties that are required by law to be registered with HPD are:

• Buildings with three or more residential units, regardless of whether the owner resides at the property; and
• One- and two-family homes IF neither the owner nor the owner’s immediate family resides there.

Owners and property managers can use HPD’S PROPERTY REGISTRATION ONLINE SYSTEMto:

• Create new property registration forms, whether you are an owner registering for the first time, a new managing agent for an existing property owner or a managing agent registering for a new owner;
• View information and forms created under your ownership/management;
• Update information from previous registrations for submission to HPD;
• Link to the Department of Finance (DOF) to pay the $13 registration charge.

All forms must be printed, signed, and mailed in to HPD.

To learn more about Property Registration, visit: nyc.gov/hpd/owners/compliance-register-your-property.page

Property Registration instructions are also available in Español (Spanish) | 简体中文 (Chinese) |Русский (Russian) | 한국어 (Korean).

Valid property registration requires both the submission of a completed property registration form to HPD and payment of the registration fee to the New York City Department of Finance (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).

Buildings without valid property registration are subject to civil penalties of $250-$500. Furthermore, property owners who fail to validly register their buildings put themselves and their tenants at a disadvantage by making it difficult for 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 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. 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 HPD. A lack of current registration information also makes it difficult for 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.

If property owners need assistance completing their property registration form, they can always contact HPD’s Registration Assistance Unit at register (at) hpd.nyc (dot) gov anytime or call 212-863-7000 between 9 am – 6 pm or visit our main office at 100 Gold Street, 6th floor, Section: E, New York, NY 10038.

In order to encourage registration, especially among property owners of small buildings (1-20 units), HPD is sponsoring information and assistance sessions in our borough offices throughout the summer.  The schedule, time and locations are below.