Protecting Mom-and-Pops from Landlord Harassment

Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a new law on Tuesday designed to shield commercial tenants from landlord harassment and make it easier for beleaguered small businesses to survive in the city.

“Our small businesses are not only engines of our economy – they’re an essential part of our city’s character,” de Blasio said at the signing. “A landlord may not interrupt services he is required to provide, like heat or hot water, with the intent to cause a tenant to vacate. If a judge finds that a commercial tenant has been harassed in this way, the landlord will face civil penalties ranging from $1,000 to $10,000, and the tenant may be awarded attorney’s fees.”

Disputes between co-op and condo boards and their commercial tenants are not uncommon, but now landlord-boards might want to think twice before resorting to rough tactics to resolve those disputes – or get rid of a commercial tenant.

Despite the mayor’s praise for the new law, which was sponsored by Councilman Robert Cornegy, a Brooklyn Democrat, some feel it doesn’t go far enough. Small business advocates such as Take Back NYC favor the more stringent, but long-stalled, Small Business Jobs Survival Act.