Protecting tenants from landlords
Legislation says that property owners must address repairs within 60 days
BY JASON COHEN
Starting next month,
Bronx tenants will have one
extra tool in the fi ght against
bad landlords, thanks to a
newly passed piece of legislation
from Assemblyman
Jeffrey Dinowitz.
The law would require that
property owners complete
court-ordered repairs to their
properties within a maximum
of 60 days. This comes after a
nearly two-decade battle in
honor of Jashawn Parker, an
8-year-old Bronx boy who died
in a fi re back in 2002.
On Aug. 6, 2002, Parker
was in his family’s DeKalb Avenue
apartment when an electrical
fi re suddenly broke out
late in the evening. For years,
the apartment building’s
landlord had ignored tenant
complaints about extreme
deterioration and ignored
two years of court orders
requesting repairs.
“Every year for the past
18 years I have fought to get
some semblance of justice for
Jashawn Parker,” Dinowitz
said. “This law will not bring
back the life of that young
child, but it will hopefully
prevent harm for countless
others in years to come. I have
no patience for any landlord
who claims this will cause
them fi nancial harm — these
are things that every property
owner has an obligation
to do, and it is only because
of their continued negligence
that tenants had to seek help
from Housing Court at all.”
According to the new law,
judges can grant landlords extensions
beyond the 60-day period
to complete repairs, which
is known as a “good cause
shown” threshold. In Parker’s
case, apartment tenants and
housing advocates had been
pushing for the property owners
to fi x over 400 code violations,
including leaks and
electrical issues. At the time,
Housing Court judges granted
at least two extensions to the
landlord’s deadline to remedy
these problems prior to the
accidental fi re.
Over 18 years ago, the City
Council passed a resolution to
support Dinowitz’s then-new
legislation, which passed the
Assembly 16 times without
gaining State Senate support.
The law fi nally passed both
chambers this year.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,20 NOV. 27-DEC. 3, 2020 BTR
Jessica Bellinder, supervisor
of Legal Aid Society’s
Bronx Housing Justice Unit
Group Advocacy praised
the legislation. Bellinder explained
that she and her colleagues
work with tenants
who complain about a lack
of heat, gas or hot water and
other dangerous issues such
as rotting roofs, severe mold
and rodent infestations.
“Lower income tenants are
entitled to safe and healthy
homes and they often can’t
just move when their buildings
deteriorate,” Bellinder
said. “The 7A law is a powerful
and underutilized tool for
organized tenants to put maximum
pressure on negligent
landlords. Tenant initiated 7A
cases are usually started after
tenants have tried every other
way to get their landlords
to maintain their building
safely. Time is of the essence
in these cases. Changes to the
Assemblyman Dinowitz sponsored a law that establishes a 60-day maximum
for deadlines of property owners to make court-ordered repairs on
their property Photo courtesy of the Offi ce of AM Dinowitz
7A law that hold landlords and
courts to a reasonable time
frame for repairing the property
or forcing the landlord to
step aside are welcome.”
The legislation will
offi cially take effect on
Friday, Dec. 11.
Bill de Blasio
Mayor
Dave A. Chokshi, MD, MSc
Commissioner