Q&A
Council Member Feliz questions SBS on commercial tenant harassment and watchlist proposal
1:03:35
ยท
4 min
Council Member Oswald Feliz questions Commissioner Dynishal Gross of the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) about Intro 449, which proposes creating a commercial landlord watchlist focused on tenant harassment. The discussion covers SBS's position on the bill, their current systems for handling harassment reports, and the potential for tracking commercial landlord harassment.
- SBS expresses reservations about managing such a watchlist, citing their non-regulatory role and staffing limitations.
- The Commercial Lease Assistance (CLA) program is highlighted as SBS's primary insight into tenant issues, though it doesn't specifically track harassment.
- Commissioner Gross emphasizes the value of existing pre-litigation services over creating new tracking systems for harassment.
Oswald Feliz
1:03:35
Thank you.
1:03:35
Thank you so much for the questions.
1:03:37
A few questions, and then I'll pass it on to council member Batcher.
1:03:40
A few questions about council member Stevens' intro 449, which would create a commercial, landlord watch list, specifically focused on, commercial tenant harassment.
1:03:51
So, earlier you mentioned well, could you just clarify the administration's position?
1:03:56
Is it that you're not supportive?
1:03:57
Or is it that you're open, but we'll have to develop a better system for determining what how do we determine what's harassment?
Dynishal Gross
1:04:04
So we don't think it's an appropriate responsibility for SBS given our core strategies of partnership, the role that we play in working with bids, and also the fact that we're nonregulatory and noninvestigatory.
1:04:18
We're not staffed, to carry out such a responsibility.
1:04:22
I think I I loved reading the committee report on the bill and the bill text because I think it focuses in on some data points that are really interesting, the incidence of findings of harassment in case law where harassment is alleged, the, you know, incidence of small business evictions, and even, you know, the violations data.
1:04:52
Low number of cases that have been brought under the under the protections, outlawing commercial tenant protections since 2016 that I think is the strongest strongest argument against a required annual report, You know, with less just a couple dozen cases over 8 years, including the pandemic, I think an annual report might be, more than what's required.
1:05:19
And if if it is to go forward, we'd be happy to be in conversation about, you know, what entity might be more appropriate than SBS.
Oswald Feliz
1:05:28
Yeah.
1:05:28
My next question was gonna be what agency should run such program, but I'm not gonna ask.
1:05:33
I'm not gonna get SBS to start fighting with other agencies.
1:05:38
Other agencies.
1:05:39
Based on the systems that SBS currently has, has it received any reports about commercial harassment?
Dynishal Gross
1:05:47
So, clients reaching out for CLA support, you know, sometimes use the word harassment.
1:05:54
And, again, we don't require them to have harassment as defined in the law to access the program.
1:06:00
We hope that, you know, there we can support them through the pre litigation services of the program, and we connect them with the attorneys to better understand their challenge and, you know, devise a strategy for negotiating on their behalf.
1:06:13
But we don't receive you know, there's not a requirement.
1:06:16
For example, you know, some laws that you can enforce through the courts have a administrative, you know, a path that you can take.
1:06:23
If you're a tenant a residential tenant, complaining of a landlord issue, you can go to housing court or you can complain to the state's department of housing and community renewal and go through an administrative process.
1:06:35
There's nothing like that, regarding commercial tenant harassment.
1:06:39
And so we are not receiving reports, and I don't believe any entity is receiving reports of, tenant harassment that are complained of.
1:06:46
So it's through our service delivery on CLA that we have the greatest insight.
Oswald Feliz
1:06:50
Does SBS think it will be a good idea to start tracking commercial landlord harassment, whether it's SBS, HPD, or any other agency?
1:06:57
Do you think it'll it'll be a good, initiative?
Dynishal Gross
1:07:01
I can't I can't say, council member, that it feels like an issue that that is right for investment in a way that I think would have the impact of our commercial lease assistance service.
1:07:13
I think that that is a really great investment for the city, and I'm grateful that it's been baseline because it allows us to plan and deliver that service on a consistent in a consistent way citywide.
1:07:26
And if we are able to support tenants, commercial tenants through pre prelitigation services, I think it makes sense to focus on that path to support that we've seen work over the course, since 2018.
Oswald Feliz
1:07:40
Thank you.
1:07:41
I'll pass it on to council member Eric Batcher, for some questions.