NYC Releases Blueprint For Housing

NYC Blueprint for Housing: What NYC Landlords Need to Know About Lead Paint Inspections

By: Lee Wasserman

Last month, NYC Mayor Eric Adams quietly released his long-anticipated housing plan  ‘Housing Our Neighbors: A Blueprint for Housing and Homelessness’. We’ve pulled out the highlights that NYC landlords need to know about lead paint violations and increased lead paint enforcement.

Local Law 31

NYC is serious about protecting its most vulnerable citizens and they are holding landlords and property owners’ responsible to understand and comply with the newest lead-based paint regulations, commonly referred to as Local Law 31. 

The updated NYC lead paint regulations state that landlords MUST have all of their pre-1960 apartment units’ lead-based paint inspected no later than August 2025 utilizing XRF technology and new lower testing thresholds (0.5mg/cm2). 

What Landlords Need to Know About the New Blueprint 

The housing blueprint has made it crystal clear that enforcement is a top priority for NYC’s HPD. Under Mayor Adam’s guidance, HPD will invest in additional training, and technology to increase enforcement of lead-based paint violations. Only a small portion of the targeted units have been inspected and the longer landlords wait to inspect, the greater their chances for violations.   

One of the most striking statements in the housing blueprint said:

“….27% of residents in rental housing reported three or more maintenance deficiencies in their homes. The Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) will work with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) and the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) to proactively inspect questionable buildings even where no complaints were filed….To allow for the additional inspections and enforcement work that will arise as a result, the Mayor’s Executive Budget commits an additional $7.5 million to HPD for lead enforcement. We are also reallocating federal funding to enhance lead compliance efforts…” 

To sum it up: NYC HPD will no longer wait for complaints, instead, they are going to be proactively inspecting units for compliance and will aggressively pursue landlords with actual or suspected violations. Landlords need to get educated on the upcoming requirements and partnering with a qualified environmental services firm is a great first step.

Read the entire document released by Mayor Adams ‘Housing Our Neighbors: A Blueprint for Housing and Homelessness‘