Not all loft buildings come under the jurisdiction of the Loft Board. If an address meets the requirements and is registered with the Loft Board, maintenance complaints should be reported as a Loft Complaint.
In 1982, the New York State legislature passed Article 7-C of the Multiple Dwelling Law (“MDL”), also known as the Loft Law. The law created a new class of buildings in New York City. These buildings are known as interim multiple dwellings (“IMD”). Generally, these buildings are former commercial and manufacturing loft spaces that were used as residences by at least three or more families living independently from April 1, 1980 through December 1, 1981. The Loft Law also established the Loft Board to coordinate the legal conversion of these spaces to safe, rent-regulated residential units.
In June of 2010, June of 2013 and June of 2015, the State Legislature amended the Loft Law to include units in commercial or manufacturing buildings which lack a residential certificate of occupancy, where three or more families lived independently for twelve consecutive months from January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2009. In addition to the residency requirement, for units to be covered under the amended Loft Law, the units:
- Must have an least one window that faces onto a street, legal yard or legal courtyard;
- Must be at least 400 square feet;
- Must not be located in a basement or cellar;
- Must not be located in an Industrial Business Zone (other than the Greenpoint, Williamsburg, North Brooklyn and certain parts of the Long Island City Industrial Business Zones);
- Must not be located in a building that, during certain periods of time, contained a use that is not compatible with residential use as defined in the Loft Board’s rules.
