Starting September 28, 2018, the HPD (Department of Housing Preservation and Development) came up with a list of buildings that have been identified as at risk for tenant harassment in a new pilot program they have launched (pursuant to Local Law 1 of 2018). The list is referred to as “The Speculation Watch List”. Owners of buildings on this list will be required to submit a Certification of No Harassment (CONH) and/or other HPD documents/certifications to the Department of Buildings before they can be allowed to obtain plan approvals or work permits for various covered categories of work.
Starting October 1, 2018, applications for plan approval or a work permit for a new building (NB), demolition (DM), or Alteration Types 1, 2, and 3 (Alt1, Alt2, Alt3) for buildings that have been flagged in this HPD Pilot Program will be required to submit any of the following HPD Certificate:
- CONH and a copy of the affidavit submitted to HPD;
- Waiver of CONH;
- Certification of restrictive declaration; and/or
- Letter stating the work is not in a covered category.
If the application was submitted before October 1, 2018 but the plans have not been approved or the permit issued as of that date, the applicant is required to submit the HPD Certification only once before:
- Plan approval;
- Approval of Post Approval Amendment (PAA);
- Issuance of work permit;
- Issuance of the C of O or letter of completion.
From October 1, 2018, those who already have their permits will need to visit a DOB borough office and submit the required HPD Certificate for the initial renewal of that permit. These permits can be renewed online only after the permit holder has submitted the required HPD certification.
The Speculation Watch Lists can be found at the HPD website. They plan to release two lists every quarter, one that includes all building sales evaluated for the Speculation Watch List and another for the subset of sales placed on the Speculation Watch List. If you believe that a building or sale should be included or excluded from the list, you can report this information to the HPD. Here is the published list of more than 1,000 buildings, covering 26,000 apartments, that are included in the initial CONH program. Building owners on the list are now required to apply for a Certificate of No Harassment before they can be issued permits for covered work. They plan to update this list monthly. The HPD only considers transactions completed on or after July 1, 2018, have a non-zero sales price and meets other criteria set in their adopted rules. You can consult the Department for more information.