I hope everyone is having a great start to the New Year despite all this snow Mother Nature has decided to dump on New York. Recently, Huff Post posted an article highlighting some of the new real estate laws New Yorkers should be aware of this year. I thought this article was informative, yet brief, so I wanted to share it with you. These new real estate laws include changes in flood insurance, estate and gift tax reforms, brokerage rebates and sprinkler systems.

The article pointed out that homeowners with costly flood insurance premiums may finally get a break due to the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 which was passed to help mitigate some of those rate increases. New York also passed laws that have increased the estate tax exemption to $2,062,500 and allow real estate brokers to give their clients rebates, a move that may help them attract new customers. Lastly, New York landlords must now provide notice to tenants on whether their rental units have fire safety sprinkler systems. We wrote a newsletter on this topic that discusses the new law in greater detail and points out the specific language that landlords must include in the notice to tenants. Our newsletter on this sprinkler system notice can be accessed by clicking HERE and to view the entire article by HuffPost click HERE. 

Take care and keep warm!

On January 29, 2015, the City of Yonkers City Council unanimously passed legislation that will raise the maximum income limits for the Senior Citizen and Disabled Rent Increase Exemptions from $29,000 to $50,000. This legislation will protect eligible senior and/or disabled residents from rent increases.

To qualify for the subsidy, senior and/or disabled residents must live in rent stabilized or rent controlled housing; use more than one third of their income to pay their rent and have an annual income of less than $50,000.

Yonkers will become one of the first municipalities outside of New York City to use state legislation to raise the maximum income limits. Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano is expected to sign the legislation after a public hearing on February 18, 2015 at 4:30PM.

Residents that qualify can apply through the New York State Home and Community Renewal White Plain’s office at 75 South Broadway, White Plains, NY and may contact the office by telephone at 914-948-4434 for additional information. To learn more about this new legislation, check out this article published by the Yonkers Tribune by clicking HERE.