At long last: The New York City Department of Finance (DOF) has posted details on their website that will make it easier for owners and managers to reconcile their property’s tax credits with their tenants’ Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) benefits. The reports can be found at web address: (See the SCRIE Tenant Report and the TAC Report.)
The Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) Program offers eligible tenants a freeze in the amount of rent they pay. If a tenant is accepted into the program, they will not have to pay any rent increases as long as they meet the program eligibility requirements. Applicants must meet ALL of the eligibility requirements. In New York City, a tenant or tenant's spouse (not the landlord!) must apply to the DOF and meet the following eligibility requirements: 62 years of age or older; living in a rent regulated apartment; combined household income at or below the income eligibility level currently set at $29,000; and paying at least 1/3 of their disposable income toward their rent. For complete eligibility requirements see web page: The tenant application can be downloaded at web address:
The difference between the tenant’s frozen rent amount and the current legal rent is given to the owner of the building as a corresponding credit against their real estate taxes from the City of New York. This credit is referred to as a Tax Abatement Credit (TAC). For more information for owners and managers go to web address:
In addition to the SCRIE program, there is another program for disabled persons. This is known as DRIE (Disability Rent Increase Exemption. For details visit DRIE program see web page:
RISSOFT is adding a new feature to its already robust property management software: check scanning. The new check scanning feature, to be released April 15th, 2011, will eliminate the need for trips to the bank.
RISSOFT’s check scanning is a one-step process -- just scan the checks onto a deposit slip using your computer, and click the finish button. In one click the deposit is uploaded to your bank, the tenant’s account is credited and the total deposit is posted to your general ledger.
The last day to file annual apartment registrations with the New York State 
DHCR (Division of Housing and Community Renewal) is July 31st. This year the DHCR Annual Registration deadline is extended to Monday August 1st because July 31st is a Sunday.
Annual rent registrations are required for all Rent Stabilized Apartments in New York City and Housing Accommodations Outside New York City Regulated by ETPA.
This is an arduous task that is best done on the internet. Using Property Management Software designed for the New York market, this process can be simplified. Starting in 2010, the DHCR has created an upload capability so that your data, if properly formatted, can be uploaded all at once. Uploading the data will increase efficiency and help eliminate errors in the mandatory apartment registration process.
RISSOFT Property Management Software by Realty Information Systems facilitates this process with robust programs to manage the registration data, diagnose the data to satisfy DHCR requirements, and create the upload file. RISSOFT also has extensive instructions for this entire process.
We have been using the RISSOFT Property Management Software system for many years but this is the first year we began using the DHCR upload. I can’t imagine doing the registrations any other way. We love the RISSOFT system. says M&ZManagement Corp. of Bronx, New York.