NYC Council Housing Committee Votes on Permanent No Harassment Certification (Aug 13, 2026)
NYC Council Committee on Housing and Buildings Votes to Make No Harassment Certification Permanent
On Thursday, August 13, 2026, the New York City Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings, chaired by Councilmember Pierina Ana Sanchez, held a meeting to vote on Proposed Introduction No. 839-A. This legislation would make the Certification of No Harassment (CONH) pilot program permanent and expand criteria for including certain buildings. The committee heard remarks from Chair Sanchez and then proceeded to a roll call vote.
Discussion Items
- Chair Sanchez explained that Int. No. 839-A responds to rising reports of landlords threatening to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on tenants. The bill expands the definition of harassment to include such threats, monitors portfolios of owners with harassment findings, and requires owners to significantly improve living conditions before buildings can exit the program. Sanchez also clarified that basic maintenance repairs would not be delayed by the program.
- Sanchez acknowledged the advocacy coalition (including ANHD and HPD), former Councilmember Brad Lander who led the original 2018 CONH pilot, and her staff for their work on the bill.
Key Outcomes
- The committee voted on Proposed Int. No. 839-A. According to the minutes, the vote was 9 in the affirmative, 1 in the negative (Councilmember Zhuang), and 1 absent (Councilmember Joseph). However, the transcript of the meeting records Councilmember Zhuang stating "I want to abstain my vote," while the minutes list a negative vote. This discrepancy is noted. The chair declared the item approved by the committee.
- The approved bill will now proceed to the full City Council for consideration.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning and welcome to the Day's New York City Council vote on committee on housing and buildings. At this time, during today's vote, no one may approach the dais. Please silence any electronic devices that you may have. Chair, you may begin. Thank you, Sergeant, and good morning. Good morning, everyone. I am Councilmember Still Morning. I'm Councilmember Pierina Sanchez, Chair of the Committee on Housing and Buildings. Today, the committee will be voting on intro number 839A, which would make the certification of no harassment program permanent and add criteria for inclusion of certain buildings in that program. Every tenant deserves to live free from harassment, regardless of their citizenship status. In New York City, it is unlawful for landlords to retaliate against tenants for exercising their rights as tenants. When a tenant is suffering from a rat infestation in their apartment, for example, it is unlawful for the for tenant harassment uh for the landlord, excuse me, to punish them for calling 311. Today, as the federal government carries out a program of mass deportation and intimidation, immigrant New Yorkers are particularly vulnerable to threats of retaliation. They face dangerous and unique forms of harassment. And here in our city, we have unfortunately seen a pattern of mistreatment. For example, a landlord who threatened to call ice on an undocumented tenant was fined $17,000 after a CCHR complaint. A Queens and Long Island based management company agreed to pay $55,000 after state officials found that the company posted a sign in its lobby encouraging tenants to report immigrants to federal authorities. And in Sunnyside, Queens, there were reports of being harassed, intimidated, and even threatened with deportation simply for requesting basic repairs. At a time when the federal government is targeting immigrant communities, we must ensure that all of our neighbors receive the strongest possible protections. Today, the council will vote on 839A, which will make the certification of no harassment program permanent and stronger. The CONH program was first created in 2018 to deter owners from using construction to harass and displace tenants from their homes. And after two successful pilots, CONH has proven itself to be useful for identifying high-risk buildings and deterring bad actors. Today we build on that success by codifying CONH as a permanent tool in the city's enforcement toolkit. Specifically, the bill will respond to high to rising reports of landlords threatening to call ice on their tenants by expanding the definition of harassment. The bill will monitor problematic portfolios by reviewing all buildings that have the same owner as those with findings of harassment, and the bill will create stronger incentives to clear violations by allowing buildings to exit the program only if those owners are significantly improving living conditions for their tenants. Finally, this bill will clarify that basic maintenance continues to be allowed without delay for any building in the program. And colleagues, this is the thing that will be lodged at you about this legislation. Oh, now we can't do basic repairs because of the CL C ONH program. That is false. Basic repairs are still allowed. We're talking about uh changes to a building uh to a uh a residence that are have been used in the past to uh harass tenants. Before we vote, I just want to take a moment to acknowledge first the coalition of advocates whose testimony and partnership made this legislation possible 10 years ago and also today, uh especially in ANHD, the HPD team who have stewarded this program through its pilot phases and negotiated this legislation in good faith, and former council member, uh then controller and future congressman uh Brad Lander, who led the passage of the original CONH pilot back in 2018. I'd also like to thank the Housing and Buildings uh Committee staff, Austin Malone, Billy Eck, Mark Chen, Jose Conde, Dirk Spencer, Carla Naranjo, Reese Hirota, Noah Slosberg, and Mohammed Shidid. And finally, I'd like to thank uh take this opportunity to thank my team, especially Deputy Chief of Staff Ben Ratner, who held this uh piece of legislation as your legislative baby. Congratulations. Our deputy chief Kim Castellano, District Director Maria Josemares, uh Gerard Fernandez, our scheduler Delan Campos, our fellow, our district team, Soraya Bonilla, and Oriana Jaroa Acevedo, and our intern who is here today, Jacob Hayward. You are all here today. I'm so excited to have you. You saw what it took to get here. Thank you for your role in this. And with that, thank you. Unless colleagues have any comments, I'd like to ask the clerk to call the roll. Thank you. Good morning, William Martin. Committee clerk, roll call vote committee on housing and buildings. Proposed introduction 839A, Chair Karina Sanchez. Aye. Riley. Aye. Felice.
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