A major tenant anti-harassment bill, co-sponsored by Council Member Oliver Koppell, was introduced in the City Council on Oct. 17.
The new legislation gives tenants an effective tool to fight abusive landlords who harass tenants through threats, repeated interruptions of essential services, removing possessions, and/or damaging entry to a residence.
Current legislation only allows tenants to take a landlord to housing court if damages involve physical condition of the apartment or failure to provide essential services.
“The existing means available to tenants for fighting harassment are totally inadequate," Koppell said. "I believe that this landmark legislation, which gives tenants the power to fight unscrupulous landlords intent on getting them out of their homes, will not only benefit the city’s renters, but will also go a long way towards providing affordable housing in the city."
Safeguards for landlords are also included in the bill and civil penalties for judicial findings of harassment range from $1,000 to $5,000. The law will go into effect immediately after it is passed by the full Council.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.