Agency Attorney III, Compliance & Enforcement

About the Agency:

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation Development (HPD) promotes quality and affordability in the city's housing, and diversity and strength in the city’s neighborhoods because every New Yorker deserves a safe, affordable place to live in a neighborhood they love.

- We maintain building and resident safety and health

- We create opportunities for New Yorkers through housing affordability

- We engage New Yorkers to build and sustain neighborhood strength and diversity.

HPD is entrusted with fulfilling these objectives through the goals and strategies of “Housing Our Neighbors: A Blueprint for Housing and Homelessness,” Mayor Adams’ comprehensive housing framework. To support this important work, the administration has committed $5 billion in new capital funding, bringing the 10-year planned investment in housing to $22 billion the largest in the city’s history. This investment, coupled with a commitment to reduce administrative and regulatory barriers, is a multi-pronged strategy to tackle New York City’s complex housing crisis, by addressing homelessness and housing instability, promoting economic stability and mobility, increasing homeownership opportunities, improving health and safety, and increasing opportunities for equitable growth.

Your Team:

The Office of Development leads the agency’s effort to develop affordable housing, through new construction and preservation of existing affordable housing. The Housing Incentives division offers tax credits, tax incentives, and zoning bonuses in order to facilitate affordable housing development. Housing Incentives’ Compliance and Enforcement (C&E) division investigates and takes enforcement action against building owners receiving these benefits who fail to comply with applicable state and local laws, codes, and regulations, as well as agency regulatory agreements.

Housing Incentives is composed of four teams:

- Tax Incentives

- Tax Credits

- Inclusionary Housing

- Compliance and Enforcement

Your Impact:

As an Attorney for Housing Incentives’ Compliance and Enforcement (C&E) division, you will assist in investigating and taking enforcement action against building owners receiving benefits who fail to comply with applicable state and local laws, codes, and regulations, as well as agency regulatory agreements. You will be a part of major compliance efforts, including those focusing on violations of rent registration and affordability requirements, resulting in more affordable and rent-stabilized apartments for New Yorkers, and will help supervise a team of Paralegals.

Civil Service Title: Agency Attorney III

Your Role:

As a senior attorney, your role will be to assist the division in ensuring compliance of buildings with valuable benefits, under the direction of the Assistant Commissioner (AC) of Compliance & Enforcement. You serve as the agency’s subject matter expert on compliance and enforcement of tax incentives and will investigate and take enforcement action against non-compliant building owners. Cases focus on violations of statutory requirements, including, but not limited to, rent registration and affordability requirements, as well as violations of Regulatory Agreements. These investigations regularly involve coordination with other city and state agencies; you may assist the AC in liaising with these agencies. Additionally, the attorney will investigate allegations that are referred from both internal and external sources. The attorney will also participate in drafting and reviewing legislation that affects the division’s compliance and enforcement efforts. Additionally, you will assist the Assistant Commissioner and other senior staff with agency reporting requirements on compliance cases handled by the division.

Your Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

- Receive and analyze complaints of non-compliance from within HPD, including Inclusionary Housing and Tax Incentive Programs, and from outside HPD, to determine whether sanctions or other penalties such as a revocation of benefits should be imposed

- Investigate complaints by collecting facts from public sources, property owners, and residents

- Make legal recommendations as to extent of violations and appropriate remedies

- Prepare appropriate legal documents to prosecute violations or revoke benefits

- Resolve cases through negotiated settlement, administrative proceedings or, with other agencies, court proceedings, including a small number of appearances before OATH

- Serve as the primary point of contact for owners, owners' counsel and residents of properties that are the subject of assigned cases

- Regularly report status of cases to the Assistant Commission and other senior staff members

- Work with Division support staff to update and maintain tracking and case management systems

- Become well-versed in program policies and regulations and provide input to the Assistant Commissioner about processes that would strengthen enforcement cases

- Supervise Attorney(s), Paralegals, and/or Assistant Project Managers

- Assist the Assistant Commissioner in producing an annual report with a list of buildings for which benefits have been revoked

Preferred Skills:

- A JD and at least one year of civil litigation or regulatory enforcement experience subsequent to admission to the New York bar

- Experience with tax or real estate matters is a plus

- Excellent verbal and written communication skills

- Strong interpersonal, creative problem-solving, and organizational skills

- Superior analytical and research skills and attention to detail

- Ability to work productively and collaboratively as part of a team

- Demonstrated ability to work independently

- Excellent judgment and decision-making skills

- Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and manage cases and projects in a timely manner

- Willingness to learn on the job, exhibit a high degree of initiative in managing multiple priorities simultaneously in a fast-paced, deadline-driven, detail-oriented work environment

- Strong facility with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook)

- Preference will be given to candidates with experience working for or with government agencies and government programs related to affordable housing compliance

AGENCY ATTORNEY - 30087

1. Admission to the New York State Bar; and either "2" or "3" below.
2. One year of satisfactory United States legal experience subsequent to admission to any state bar; or
3. Six months of satisfactory service as an Agency Attorney Interne (30086).
Incumbents must remain Members of the New York State Bar in good standing for the duration of this employment.
In addition to meeting the minimum Qualification Requirements:
To be assigned to Assignment Level (AL) II, candidates must have one year of experience at Assignment Level I or two years of comparable legal experience subsequent to admission to the bar, in the areas of law related to the assignment. To be assigned to AL III candidates must have two years of experience in Assignment Levels I and/or II or three years of comparable legal experience subsequent to admission to the bar, in the areas of law related to the assignment.

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.