Learn About Sunset Park Rep's 'Landlord Accountability Act' on Nov. 2

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — The housing committee of Community Board 7 will host a Nov. 2 presentation on The Landlord Accountability Act of 2016, legislation introduced by Rep. Nydia Velázquez.

Velázquez's district includes Sunset Park, as well as Gowanus, Red Hook, Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Williamsburg, Bushwick, and other Brooklyn neighborhoods.

The presentation will be given by a staffer from Velázquez's office. It will take place at 6 p.m. at 4201 4th Ave. (visitors can enter the building on 43rd Street).

According to Velázquez's office, The Landlord Accountability Act is designed to prevent discrimination against Section 8 renters, as well as stopping landlords from letting subsidized units fall into disrepair in order to push tenants out.

Among its requirements, the Act institutes a federal ban on "housing discrimination based on a tenant’s use of a housing voucher." It also creates a penalty of up to $150,000 for each instance in which a landlord has allowed a property to deteriorate in order to disqualify it as a Section 8 unit.

Furthermore, the legislation would create a Multifamily Housing Complaint Resolution Program designed "to receive complaints about multifamily housing projects from voucher-holding tenants," as well as "gather information on complaints, investigate, and attempt to resolve complaints through mediation."

The below fact sheet, supplied by Rep. Velázquez's office, provides further information on the legislation.

Landlord Accountability Act Explainer by JVS Patch on Scribd

Pictured at top: Nydia Velázquez. Image via YouTube.