NEW YORK'S MINIMUM WAGE HIKE FOR 2019

This can be found in Section 652 of the New York Labor Law. Here is the provision for Long Island and Westchester:

Section 652 (b) New York Labor Law:

"Remainder of downstate.  Every employer shall pay to each of its employees for each hour worked in the counties of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester a wage not less than:

$10.00 per hour on and after December 31, 2016,

$11.00 per hour on and after December 31, 2017,

$12.00 per hour on and after December 31, 2018,

$13.00 per hour on and after December 31, 2019,

$14.00 per hour on and after December 31, 2020,

$15.00 per hour on and after December 31, 2021,

or, if greater, such other wage as may be established by federal law pursuant to 29 U.S.C. section 206 or its successors or such other wage as may be established in accordance with the provisions of this article."

WHEN A LANDLORD CANNOT COLLECT ON AN ILLEGAL RENTAL

In Ader v Guzman 2016 NY Slip Op 00137 Decided on January 13, 2016 Appellate Division, Second Department, the Town Code provided (1) "no owner shall cause, permit or allow the occupancy or use of a dwelling unit as a rental property without a valid rental permit."; (2) "an application for a rental permit shall be filed with the enforcement authority before the term of the rental is to commence."; (3) a valid rental permit shall be a condition precedent to the collection of rent;and (4) the penalties for violating this code include monetary fines or imprisonment.

Under such a fact pattern, the court held:

"....the lease was rendered illegal and unenforceable as a result of his violation of Town Code § 270. "The violation of a statute which is merely malum prohibitum will not necessarily render a contract illegal and unenforceable if that statute does not expressly provide that its violation will deprive the parties of their right to sue under the contract, and the denial of relief is wholly out of proportion to the requirements of public policy" (R.A.C. Group, Inc. v Bd. of Educ., 21 AD3d 243, 248; see Benjamin v Koeppel, 85 NY2d 549, 553; Lloyd Capital Corp. v Pat Henchar, Inc., 80 NY2d 124, 127; Simaee v Levi, 22 AD3d 559, 562). Furthermore, "forfeitures by operation of law are disfavored, particularly where a defaulting party seeks to raise illegality as a sword for personal gain rather than a shield for the public good' . . . Allowing parties to avoid their contractual obligation is especially inappropriate where there are regulatory sanctions and statutory penalties in place to redress violations of the law" (Simaee v Levi, 22 AD3d at 562, quoting Lloyd Capital Corp. v Pat Henchar, Inc., 80 NY2d at 128). The Court of Appeals has observed that, "[w]here the procuring of a license is merely for the purpose of raising revenue it would seem that acts performed without securing a license would be valid. But where the statute looks beyond the question of revenue and has for its purpose the protection of public health or morals or the prevention of fraud, a non-compliance with its terms would affect the legality of the business" (Benjamin v Koeppel, 85 NY2d at 553 [internal quotations marks omitted]; see Village Taxi Corp. v Beltre, 91 AD3d 92, 99-100).

Here, as noted above, although Town Code § 270 is, in part, revenue raising, the overriding concern of the statute is to protect the safety and well-being of occupants of rental properties in the Town of Southampton. Accordingly, under the circumstances of this case, it would be against public policy to permit Guzman to retain the plaintiffs' rental payments and to profit from his wrongdoing (see R.A.C. Group, Inc. v Board of Educ. of City of N.Y., 21 AD3d at 248; Schwartz v Torrenzano, 49 Misc 3d 943, 950-951)."

LONG ISLAND FORECLOSURE RATES

Today's NEWSDAY has an article "Long Island foreclosure rate dips, still higher than nation" and from that article:

"Now, with lower fuel costs and near-record-low interest rates — including rates as low as 2 percent for homeowners who received certain loan modifications — homeowners are more likely to struggle due to a serious illness or loss of a second job, Yopp said.


For one family seeking help at Long Island Housing Partnership, “they can’t get any assistance and there were heart issues, a kidney transplant. . . . The bank can’t do anything, [the homeowners] just don’t have the income” to afford their medical costs and housing payments, Yopp said. “It can be devastating.”

It took lenders an average of 1,010 days to foreclose on homes in New York State during the last three months of 2015, the sixth-longest delay in the country, according to California-based data company RealtyTrac."

HOME OWNERSHIP AND LONG ISLAND LOW INCOME RESIDENTS

From Newsday (and Empire Justice Center) Saturday September 19:

http://www.newsday.com/business/counseling-new-rules-could-widen-home-ownership-empire-justice-center-study-says-1.10857130

RENTAL REGISTRATION LAW - TOWN OF NORTH HEMPSTEAD

The Town of North Hempstead’s Rental Registration Law requiring landlords to register with the building department was upheld April 7 by the Appellate Division. I could not find the decision on New York Official Reports but here is a link to a news story on it:

http://www.stonybrookconcernedhomeowners.org/rental-registration-law-in-north-hempstead-upheld-by-appellate-division/

NEW YORK MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE - CRISIS

Recently, MSN posted an article "5 worst spots for 'zombie foreclosures'" By Jason Notte of TheStreet

A zombie foreclosure is defined in the article as follows: "Abandoned by the distressed homeowner and not yet repossessed by the foreclosing lender, these homes have no one to maintain them, are falling into disrepair, attracting crime and dragging down the values of nearby homes."

Coming in as Number 3 was the New York/New Jersey Metropolitan area:

" 3. New York City, Northern New Jersey and Long Island, N.Y. and N.J.

Total vacant foreclosures: 11,000
Percentage of all foreclosures: 12 percent

The suburbs got slammed during the housing crisis, but Superstorm Sandy didn't exactly help matters.

New York and New Jersey rank among the Top 5 states for vacated foreclosures. There are 10,880 in New York state alone, while New Jersey contributes 8,595 to the total. Both are still struggling mightily, with New Jersey's foreclosure starts up 126 percent from last year and New York
foreclosures spending 1,037 days in that state.

Unlike much of the rest of the nation, however, New Jersey and New York saw increases in bank home repossessions in February. Those seizures more than doubled in New York (up 108 percent from February 2013) while New Jersey repossessions jumped 90 percent."

Here's a link to the article:

http://realestate.msn.com/5-worst-spots-for-zombie-foreclosures?GT1=35010#1

FOR HOME RENTERS IN LONG ISLAND

This article in today's Newsday certainly highlights some issues - there are others:

NEWSDAY - RENTERS BEWARE: READ ALL FINE PRINT

One important issue not mentioned is can lease be renewed and on what terms - a term most renters should be concerned about if they do not want to move every year or so: moist landlords only give one year terms on house rentals.

LANDLORD TENANT - NASSAU COUNTY - HEMPSTEAD VILLAGE

See this article:

Hempstead Village Passes Rental Registration Permit Law

However, it is not clear whether compliance will be a new pleading and/or element of proof requirement in any landlord/tenant petition and/or action. A review of the Board resolution indicates that Section 106-12, which stated that the permit was a condition to collecting rent, has been specifically deleted:

http://villageofhempstead.org/announcements/phNotice-041513.pdf

NEW YORK MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE - CRISIS ON LONG ISLAND

Here is some more information that I pass along from the Long Island Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis seminar:

"FINDING: Foreclosures are disproportionately hurting Long Island's minority communities.
Areas with high foreclosure concentrations and low lending levels are most often areas of high Black and Latino home ownership. The crisis is not only impacting the households actually in foreclosure, but also the majority of Black and Latino homeowners in each county. The foreclosure crisis raises a significant threat to the "asset wealth" of minority communities."

NEW YORK MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE - CRISIS ON LONG ISLAND

Here is some more information that I pass along from the Long Island Mortagage Foreclosure Crisis seminar:

"FINDING: The most impacted areas have seen reduced lending, threatening economic recovery.
The areas identified as Impact areas" as a result of the foreciosure crisis have also seen large declines in home purchase lending from 2006 to 2010. The result is a "double-whammy" - foreclosures have increased the need for more home purchase financing, but less financing is available."

NEW YORK MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE - CRISIS ON LONG ISLAND

Yesterday, I attended a seminar sponsored by Empire Justice center, among others, on the Long Island Mortagage Foreclosure Crisis.

Some information that I pass along:

"FINDING: Foreclosures are widespread but many communities have disproportionate concentrations. Foreclosures occur all over Long Island but each county has numerous areas with concentrations of foreclosures much higher than the rest of the county."
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