NYC Local Law 1 (Lead Law)
NYC Local Law 1 states that the law applies to apartments if: The building where the apartment is in was built before 1960 and The building has 3 or more apartment units and a child under the age of 6 lives in said apartment. Does that mean that in a four story brownstone where the…
NYC Local Law 1 states that the law applies to apartments if:
The building where the apartment is in was built before 1960 and
The building has 3 or more apartment units and
a child under the age of 6 lives in said apartment.
Does that mean that in a four story brownstone where the onwner of the brownstone rents out the garden level and he and his family live in the top three floors, said brownstone would not be required to follow NYC Local Law 1 for the garden rental as there are not 3 or more apartment units in the brownstone?
Thanks.
KAZ
I was not being completely serious, I would not overtly discriminate, though in my 1-rental situation, I’d be pretty picky.
My point, however, was that I feel that the lead issue (as others like asbestos) is so overblown that strict compliance (as others have pointed out) is not clear or easy. My rental has several coats of non-lead paint over the years, is partially renovated and has no peeling stuff, so *I* have a clear conscience. I am also extremely blase about the dangers of all this stuff.
This does not however mean that a paranoid helicopter parent who’s renting from me could not sue me or otherwise create problems. As I have seen quite often on this board, there’s plenty of people who have a risk-aversion bordering on the insane, and I’d hate to have to deal with one of them.
As for the classes, I suspect I would not come out of it alive.
Tiptoe: Protections under the Federal Fair Housing Act and the NYS Human Rights Law differ slightly in the areas of employment and housing, some complaints of employment discrimination and/or housing discrimination. The New York State Human Rights Law only applies to New York State and goes beyond employment and housing into areas such as public accommodations, lending, and education. New York City has its own Human Rights Law, which is available online at: http://www.nyc.gov/html/cchr/html/hrlaw.html In addition to federal laws, the NYS and NYC laws will and do apply to you. That’s what I’m trying to communicate.
Vinca – I’m talking about the Fair Housing Act, which applies only to multi-family homes of 4 units or more, where the owner also resides on the premises. If I own a 3 unit brownstone and live in one of the units, and do not want to rent to a family with kids, it’s my perogative. The FHA will not apply.
Sorry, I thought the HPD link above would take you directly to the class. Go to: http://167.153.4.72/hepclasses/ViewClassList.aspx then click on the + sign next to “NYC/HUD Certificate Lead Classes” and scroll down to “Local Law 1: Owners Compliance.” You might also want to look at the class titled “Healthy Homes.”
All of these classes are free.
KAZ: You really should take one of HPD’s free classes before arguing that compliance is difficult. Tiptoe, read further re: fair housing laws:
http://167.153.4.72/hepclasses/ViewClassList.aspx
Local Law 1: Owners Compliance – This class is free
http://www.nyc.gov/html/cchr/html/housing.html
Under the NY City Human Rights Law it is unlawful for landlords, superintendents, building managers, condominium owners, cooperative owners and boards to discriminate in the sale, rental or lease of a housing accommodation or in the provision of services and facilities because of a person’s actual or perceived race, color, national origin, gender (including gender identity), disability, sexual orientation, creed, marital status, partnership status, alienage or citizenship status, any lawful source of income, age, lawful occupation, or because children are or may be residing with the person. The Law does not extend to residents of two-family houses if the owner or a member of the owner’s family resides in one of the housing accommodations and the available housing accommodation was not advertised. In addition, you are not covered by the Law if you rent a room or rooms in non-government assisted housing where the owner resides.
Actually compliance with the law is not that simple. Per NYC Local Law 1 simply painting with regular paint is not sufficient – apparently lead can “eat through” regular paint. One has to hire an EPA certified lead abatement company that uses special lead covering paint. Further, that special paint is not good enough for doors, windows and shutters. For these items you need to remove/replace them or chemically strip off all the paint. (This is because friction from operating these items can cause lead dust.) Finally, you then have to hire an EPA certfied lead testing company to take tests and certify that you are lead free. That is what the law says. Also, if you have a tennant who complains about a lead issue and NYC comes in to inspect the law requires you to find and pay for a place for the tennant to live while you fix your lead problem.
Again, this lead thing is not simple.
If you own a 1-2-3 family house, you may rent to whomwever you’d like. If you don’t want to rent to a family with kids, it’s your perogative. The anti-descrimination rules do not apply to 3 family homes or less. BTW, it would be extremely foolish to rent to a family with babies or toddlers (assumign the building is built before 1970) if you don’t keep the apt. in impeccable condition.
Vinca points out something really important here — compliance with this law is fairly simple and reasonable. You need to keep your walls painted and make sure old paint is not peeling. Beyond issues involving renovation, that’s pretty much common sense anyway, right?
As a matter of fact, cmu, I would wonder about an owner who ignored this law,
or discriminated against families. It’s just not that hard to distribute the necessary literature and keep surfaces properly painted (i.e. keeping old lead paint, if still existing, encapsulated).