Q&A
Debate on denying city subsidies to landlords who illegally evict tenants
0:50:59
·
97 sec
Council Member Sandy Nurse and HPD representatives discuss the possibility of denying city subsidies or tax exemptions to landlords who illegally evict tenants. The conversation explores potential policy approaches to address this issue.
- HPD emphasizes their primary responsibility is protecting tenants
- Discussion of potentially implementing thresholds or layers to target repeat offenders
- Agreement to continue discussions on finding ways to discourage illegal evictions while ensuring tenant protection
Sandy Nurse
0:50:59
No problem.
0:51:00
Do you think that a property owner who illegally locks out one of their tenants should benefit from city subsidies or tax exemptions?
Lucy Joffe
0:51:13
Thank you for that question.
0:51:14
I think across the board, what we would say is that our primary responsibility is protecting tenants.
0:51:19
So while we want to do as much as we can to ensure that bad actor owners are not benefiting from HPD programs or other city subsidies, at the end of the day, we are primarily, focused on making sure when push comes to shove that we are protecting tenants wherever we can.
0:51:35
So we want to have the tools that we need in our toolkit, but we share the same values and we're very focused on making sure that we go after bad actors with all of the tools that are available to us.
Sandy Nurse
0:51:46
Okay.
0:51:48
And just as we kind of talked about in our conversation ahead of time, I do think with this bill, we could look at, some thresholds or layers to build in so that, folks who are frequent flyers, or who are repeatedly found guilty of this, I don't have that.
0:52:09
It's hard to get that that data from just, like, the public end.
0:52:13
So I'd love to work more with you all on that, or the law department, or whoever I need to be pointed to, but thinking about ways to to build in some layers.
0:52:22
I I agree, like, a blanket situation might not work, but there might be people who we should not be subsidizing, and find ways to to permanently make some of those units affordable.
Lucy Joffe
0:52:34
We'd be happy to continue that discussion.
