Bill Morris

New Jersey

Managing and Online Editor at Habitat Magazine

Habitat builds, rehabs & preserves affordable owner occupied homes with families & community, provide opportunities for volunteers & operates a ReStore .

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Articles

First lawsuit under NYC's Short-Term Rental Registration Law

5 days ago | habitatmag.com | Bill Morris

Co-op and condo boards applauded when the city enacted Local Law 18, which was designed to cut down on the scourge of illegal short-term apartment rentals in their buildings. “I love Local Law 18!” Stuart Saft, a partner at the law firm Holland & Knight and then-chairman of the Council of New York Cooperatives & Condominiums, told Habitat shortly before the law went into effect in January 2023.
Shareholders seek change in co-op leadership

6 days ago | habitatmag.com | Bill Morris

A co-op in central Queens is ripe for a coup. Shareholders are not invited to monthly board meetings, only to the annual meeting. The board has refused to share minutes of its monthly meetings, telling shareholders to travel to the managing agent’s office in Nassau County to read them. The managing agent won’t reveal the date of the next annual meeting. How can shareholders force the board to hold an election?
New York State law may trigger rental building conversions to condos

1 week ago | habitatmag.com | Bill Morris

A little-noticed provision tucked inside New York State's recently passed $254 billion budget could cause history to repeat itself — with a twist. The provision allows residents in large, newer apartment buildings across the city to vote to convert their rental buildings into condo buildings and buy their units — if just 15% of tenants or would-be buyers agree, Brick Underground reports. The provision could spark an echo of the co-op conversions that swept the city four decades ago.
NYC Co-ops' lawsuit against Local Law 97 dismissed

1 week ago | habitatmag.com | Bill Morris

The three-year legal battle is over, and Local Law 97 is still standing. A panel of state Court of Appeals judges has dismissed a long-shot lawsuit that sought to overturn the city's ambitious climate law, Crain's reports. As of 2024, Local Law 97 has required owners of buildings larger than 25,000 square feet, including co-op and condo boards, to cut their carbon emissions or face fines. The carbon caps will become more stringent in future years.
New York Budget Cuts Property Taxes for Mitchell-Lama Co-ops

2 weeks ago | habitatmag.com | Bill Morris

The newly passed New York State budget contains a rare ray of good news for affordable Mitchell-Lama co-ops and rental properties. The budget slices in half — from 10% to 5% — the percentage of shelter rent that Mitchell-Lamas must pay as property taxes. With many Mitchell-Lamas squeezed by rising building maintenance, insurance, utility and other costs, the tax relief comes as welcome news.
Trump reverses halt on Long Island wind project

2 weeks ago | habitatmag.com | Bill Morris

The Trump administration's policies — on tariffs, the Russia-Ukraine war, immigration, clean energy, and more — seem to change based on which way the wind is blowing. The latest proof came on Monday, when the Trump administration reversed its decision to halt a massive offshore wind project near Long Island, Gothamist reports.
Trump's Plan to End Energy Star Program Sparks Outrage

3 weeks ago | habitatmag.com | Bill Morris

In their unending drive to reduce energy consumption and costs, most residents of New York City co-ops and condos, including the boards that govern their buildings, have pursued two linked strategies: improve the efficiency of all building systems and appliances, and eliminate waste whenever possible. A valuable tool in this campaign has been the Energy Star program, which, by rating the efficiency of appliances, saves American consumers more than $40 billion annually on energy bills.
NY co-ops and condos seek relief from Local Law 97

3 weeks ago | habitatmag.com | Bill Morris

What a difference a year makes. Last April, middle-class co-op and condo residents — especially those living in garden complexes — cheered when city council member Linda Lee introduced Intro 772, a bill designed to soften the sting of the city's climate law, Local Law 97.
Manhattan and Brooklyn co-op and condo sales surge despite economic concerns

3 weeks ago | habitatmag.com | Bill Morris

High mortgage rates? Tariff uncertainty? Recession fears? Fuhgeddaboudit. Co-op and condo buyers in Brooklyn and Manhattan — particularly those flush with cash — ignored the static in the air and powered a surge in sales in April, Crain's reports. In Manhattan, signings for co-ops were up 45%, and those for condos were up 36% from April 2024.
Co-op surcharge on subletting: Is it legal and reasonable?

1 month ago | habitatmag.com | Bill Morris

Q: After buying into a Queens co-op about 35 years ago, a shareholder began subletting the apartment. About 15 years ago, the co-op board imposed a 10% surcharge on the monthly maintenance fees for apartments that are rented out. That increased to 20% about five years ago. Should the apartment have been grandfathered in, exempting it from the surcharge? Does a co-op board even have the right to impose this extra fee?