Posted by Ben on August 04, 2001 at 22:21:42:
from tomorrow's New York Times Real Estate:
Owners Get Fee Relief From City
By JAY ROMANO
ARLIER this year, the New York City Department of Finance evoked a
collective gasp among rental landlords and co-op boards when officials
suddenly ratcheted up efforts to collect unpaid registration fees that owners of
rent-stabilized apartments are required to pay the city under a 1984 law —
along with compounded interest on past-due amounts.
The registration-fee move infuriated many landlords and boards, both because
it was the first time officials had made a concerted effort to collect the past-due
fees and interest and because it was doing so by adding overdue amounts to
property tax bills.
In June, after being prodded by representatives of the landlords and boards
the City Council enacted, and Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani signed, legislation
that provided some relief to those who — in some cases — could have been
liable for thousands of dollars in unpaid fees and interest.
As reported in this space in April, landlords and co-op boards in thousands of
buildings were unpleasantly surprised upon getting tax delinquency notices
that consolidated, for the first time, all charges for past- due rent-stabilization
registration fees and interest.
And while the owners did not dispute the $10 registration fee, representatives
of property owners said that when compounded interest was added to the bills,
the amounts due in some buildings amounted to thousands of dollars.
Joseph Strasburg, president of the Rent Stabilization Association, a Manhattan
organization that represents owners of multifamily buildings, said at the time
that some owners were getting bills amounting to four times the original
registration fees, while others were being billed for fees that they had already
paid.
Because of the concerns expressed by representatives of property owners and
co- op boards and lawyers, however, city officials recently agreed to a
compromise on the amount being claimed by the city.
Mr. Strasburg of the Rent Stabilization Association said that on June 18, Mayor
Giuliani signed legislation that eliminated interest assessed on unpaid
registration fees due for 1984 through 1998.
"Now, only the actual fees have to be paid," he said.
In addition, Mr. Strasburg said, the legislation provides that if an owner made
the required payments for 1993 through 1998, the city will waive all fees and
interest that would otherwise have been due for 1984 through 1992.
Lisa Maluf, chief of staff for the Department of Finance, said that last week the
city began sending out amended bills for the unpaid fees through 1998.
And when the bills for 1999 and 2000 go out later this year, Ms. Maluf said,
interest will be calculated only from the date of billing and not retroactively to
when the fee was originally due.
For property owners to be eligible for the concessions offered by the city, she
said, all amounts due must be paid within 90 days of billing.
!!!!!!!!!!!
(some co-op specific stuff edited out)
Isn't this the pips?
What we're talking about here folks is that each landlord owes a $10.00 fee for each apartment each year. A lousy little ten dollars. And they didn't pay it; sometimes for 15 years. So Finance added it, plus interest, to the RE Tax bills. They cried on Goolinai's shoulder.
ps: guess what? if they don't pay those fees, they also can't raise our rents for the annual RGB increases...
I suggest you immediately get to nyc.gov, dept of finance, and look up your landlord: does he have these delinquent fees on his RE Tax bills? did you pay renewal increases? print out that thing now, with the web address showing and contact DHCR ASAP about your overcharge.
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