RSA Services
RSA members have access to products and services that are an unmatched in the real estate industry. RSA has the cost-and time-saving tools to help its membership deal with the burdens of complying with numerous City and State filings.General Membership Benefits:
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Counseling Services: : Experienced RSA counselors are available to all members for individual assistance, by phone or in person, on all matters related to rent regulation or City agency problems. -
Newsletters: RSA members receive our monthly publication, the Reporter, and special bulletins keeping them up-to-date on the latest legal, legislative and regulatory news. AVAILABLE ONLINE. -
E-mail Newsletters: Members who sign up at our website receive real-time, online informational updates delivered right to your inbox. AVAILABLE ONLINE. Forms and Riders: New vacancy leases and packages containing leases, stabilization riders and lead pamphlets as well as renewal lease forms and rent stabilization lease riders are available at discounted rates. Window guard/lead paint and fire safety forms provide a complete protection package to ensure owners are in full compliance with the new law. AVAILABLE ONLINE.
Membership Programs:
Fuel Purchasing Program: RSA's bulk purchasing program for #2, #4 and #6 heating oil provides owners with significant cost savings and quick efficient service.
Natural Gas Savings Program: Purchase gas through an RSA marketer rather than your local utility and SAVE!-
Court & Credit Tenant Screening Program: Includes New York as well as out of state Housing Court Reports, choice of up to 3 Credit Bureau Reports, Employment Verification, Income Verification, Current and/or Prior Landlord Verification, Social Search, Criminal Report, Fraud Search and Illegal Tenant Search. -
Legal Plan: Unique in the industry, the RSA offers its members a program to contain housing-related litigation costs while providing expert representation in Housing Court. -
Insurance Programs: RSA members may apply to participate in our low-cost comprehensive Group Health, and Property & Liability Insurance.
Membership Services:
Annual Safety Notice Service: Each year, building owners must provide their tenants withthree required notices: Window Guard, Lead Paint and Fire Safety Plans. RSA has combined these notices into one mailing to make it easier for you to comply with these annual legal requirements. TheEnhanced Service provides a completedigital back office to fulfill your annual safety notice requirements with the ease of apaperless, online system. -
Rent Registration Service: RSA's computerized rent registration service provides an efficient, easy and cost-effective way to meet the government mandated annual rent registration requirements. AVAILABLE ONLINE. -
Lease Renewal Service: Automatically provides accurate, updated leases within the legal renewal period, with optional delivery to tenants. -
Realm Express/Realm Online: Low-cost property management services for small, mid-sized and large owners using state-of-the art programs and computers to generate everything necessary to handle rental income including rent bills, lease renewals and record keeping - whether you have the latest technology or don't even own a computer.
How RSA Protects Your Interests:
RSA is constantly active in protecting your rights and economic interests in the public domain through aggressive public information and lobbying campaigns and aggressive legal challenges to achieve positive legislative and regulatory reforms.
Our successes include:
- Historic Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1997, the most sweeping reform of regulations in over two decades; our long-term lobbying efforts in the State Legislature and the City Council resulted in the greatest benefits for property owners in the history of rent law negotiations including permanent, realistic vacancy allowances, deposit of rent in court and a strict four year statute of limitations.
- Continuous representation before the N.Y.C. Rent Guidelines Board which in 2008 set the highest guidelines since 1989 and allowed a minimum rent adjustment that applied to apartments where there had not been a vacancy for six years or more.
- RSA both initiates and sponsors lawsuits including individual and broad-based cases with industry-wide significance including the Economakis owner occupancy case and the RSA sponsored lawsuit challenging the Harassment Law passed by the City Council in 2007.
- Lobbying the N.Y.C. Water Board to create special programs designed to help building owners cope with the change to metered water billing, including an extension of frontage billing and the Multifamily Conservation Program, a toilet rebate program and a permanent flat-rate billing option.
- An effort to make DHCR more responsive to owners resulting in the expediting of MCI processing from 3 years to 60 days, among other improvements.
- RSA successfully lobbied for clear-cut lead abatement rules and manageable fire safety requirements.