Albany City Hall at twilight. Mayor Dorcey Applyrs' office announced two housing laws in a statement posted Nov. 12. Photo: Tyler A. McNeil, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Mayor Dorcey Applyrs’ office, in a statement posted Nov. 12, said she had announced two local laws on Nov. 8 that the city says will clarify housing enforcement and expand fair-housing protections. Local Law H, introduced by Councilmember Derek Johnson, expands Albany’s Fair Housing Law. Local Law R, introduced by Majority Whip Owusu Anane, is meant to make it easier to identify rental properties that must obtain a Residential Occupancy Permit.
According to the city, Local Law H adds protections related to military status, domestic-violence victim status, immigration status and disability accommodations, and gives the Fair Housing Office in the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services authority to conduct and close discrimination investigations within 120 days. It also establishes penalties for violations. Johnson said, “When the community speaks, both the Mayor’s Office and the Common Council are listening.”
Local Law R, the statement said, sets clearer standards for how the Department of Buildings and Regulatory Compliance and City Court can determine that a property is being used as a rental and therefore must have an ROP. All rental property owners are already required to obtain a permit, the city said. Anane called the law “an important step toward promoting safer housing, accountability, and responsible property management.”
Applyrs tied both measures to priorities that residents flagged in the Activate Albany survey, including housing stabilization and code enforcement. “Residents have made it clear that they want stronger housing protections and a city government that can effectively enforce the rules on the books,” she said. The statement also noted that, since January, the administration has restored 30- and 60-day ROP reminder emails and expanded weekend inspections, and it pointed back to a December 2025 housing audit issued when Applyrs was chief city auditor and to an April change to the inclusionary zoning law that created a Housing Trust Fund. The release did not include the council vote tallies on either law.
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