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- Referred to cities
- Committed to rules
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.1132
- Referred to cities
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Relates to the enforcement of environmental control board judgments as tax liens
In Assembly Committee · Cities · Sponsor Daniel O'Donnell
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S5489
Title of bill
An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to enforcement of environmental control board judgments as tax liens
Summary of provisions
This proposed legislation would provide the Commissioner of Buildings with authority to have environmental control board judgments of $25,000 or more enforced as tax liens. It provides for notice to be sent by the department of finance to owners and others with an interest in the property.
Reasons for support
The primary mission of the New York City Department of Buildings' (DOB) is to ensure the safe and lawful use of over 975.000 buildings, by focusing on safety, service and integrity. Law-abiding property owners and tenants alike benefit from - and have every reason to expect - safety and an enhanced quality of life. But this mission is compromised when owners don't play by the rules.
The Department of Buildings (DOB) has the authority to assess fines against property owners that violate the City's rules, through judgments of the environmental control board (ECB). Some owners readily comply with the law, others come into compliance and pay the fines, and still others ignore the law entirely. Existing law does not, however, allow DOB to enforce unpaid fines issued by ECB as money judgments. Currently, fees imposed by ECB for violations written by DOB go uncollected and are lost because they are not attached to the title of the property via lien. As a result, owners may choose to abandon their responsibility to pay the fines, and fail to bring their properties into compliance, putting tenants at an undue risk. This deprives DOB of an effective enforcement mechanism, and the City of much-needed revenue.
This proposed law will enable DOB to enforce judgments of $25,000 or more as tax liens, thereby focusing on persistent code violators who do not pay. This will give teeth to the City's laws and rules, creating a real incentive for violators to bring their properties into compliance, and streamline the City's efforts to collect lines that have been duly assessed.
Accordingly, the Mayor urges the earliest possible favorable consideration of this proposal by the Legislature.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.