Keys on a private room door in New York

[Tsotne--Tut-0]

Hi All. I am a host In New York..  ignorant of me , I just found out that I should not have keys for the private room.   I have replaced the locks right away. 
but is that law also applicable for the long term tenancy? 
right now I have 2 guests who have stayed with me for more than a month each and they have belongings there. 

I  wanted to ask if I can rent more than 3 rooms in a one family duplex with 5 rooms. 

thank you so much for your response. 

[Anonymous]

@Tsotne--Tut-0  The reasoning behind the law on locked bedroom doors, as I understand it, is that no fire escape should be made inaccessible by a keyed lock, whether it's on the bedroom door or the window itself. Regardless of whether you have short-term guests or long-term tenants, you may not have externally locked doors on any rooms within a household - just doors that can only be locked by an occupant inside, like you'd have for a bathroom.

For concerns about personal property, you can offer your guests each a small safe to keep their valuables while they're away. 

As for your last question, there are several layers of regulation on hosting lodgers in a shared home. I'm neither a legal expert nor a New Yorker, but somewhere in here you should have your answer:  https://codes.findlaw.com/ny/multiple-dwelling-law/

[Tsotne--Tut-0]

Thank you so much. 

[Ann72]

@Tsotne--Tut-0  NYC Airbnb rules and regulations are complex.  This page from nyc.gov helps clarify some of the basics:  https://www1.nyc.gov/site/specialenforcement/stay-in-the-know/information-for-hosts.page

It answers the first part of your question:  "Internal doors cannot have key locks that allow guests to leave and lock their room behind them. All occupants need to maintain a common household, which means, among other things, that every member of the family and all guests have access to all parts of the dwelling unit. Internal doors with such key locks create barriers to escaping in an emergency, and may result in the issuance of a temporary vacate order."  The last sentence confirms @Anonymous's answer.

To answer your other question, you can rent to no more than four boarders, roomers, or lodgers, and of course you can't rent for fewer than 30 days in a Class A building (that's the kind of building you live in; Class B buildings are purpose-built hotels, lodging houses, and the like). I'm not sure the number of rooms is at issue, but if you can read through the very lengthy definitions of NYC's multiple dwelling laws, you might find your answer.  At the moment, your question isn't 100% clear to me:  I assume you're using "duplex" in the NYC fashion, which means "two stories," but I don't know how you're defining "rooms":  does your definition include kitchen, bathrooms, etc.?

[Mark116]

@Ann72  Wouldn't that mean that STR are effectively outlawed in NYC, if you can't rent a private room in a house, which is what the Bronx listing is,  for less than 30 days?  Am I missing something?

[Ann72]

@Mark116  Yes, possibly, but it's legal to rent out rooms in your house as long as you're living there at the same time and as long as everyone in the household has access to all areas of the dwelling.  I didn't want to presume he was doing something illegal.

The importance of the dwelling definition is that residences in Class A buildings can only be used for permanent resident purposes.  That means it has to be occupied by the same person or family for 30 or more consecutive days.  However, you can define a family residing in a private one-family dwelling as one or more people with no more than 4 lodgers or boarders. 

[Mark116]

@Ann72  That seems insane, wouldn't that mean that if you rented out a room in your apartment or single family house that guests would have access to your private bedroom and bathroom, locked closets, garage etc??  STR law is one of the few times I am really happy to be in Jersey City instead of NYC, LOL.  While I wasn't a fan of the new law passed last year, at least JC legitimately attempted a compromise solution that reigned in corporate multi unit entities while still allowing actual people to monetize their own properties, and so far, the permit process has been pretty smooth, knocking on wood. 

[Ann72]

@Mark116  Bing as in go.  I would not want to try even a legal Airbnb in NYC for that and many other reasons!  My building strictly forbids it, so I've never even been tempted.

Jersey City sounds so sane in comparison!  

[Mark116]

@Ann72  Yeah, every time I have read the NYC rules, they are so confusing and it seems like basically that nothing is really legal anymore except long term STR, and so many of the rules, while possibly well intentioned, feel like there would be safety issues related to following.  I get the idea of not allowing keyed locks on bedrooms IF that would somehow prevent access to a fire escape or other exist out of the property, but I can't imagine renting a home share and not being able to close off or otherwise lock up my own stuff.  I doubt I would ever do a room in a shared space, even w/out covid, too many much more serious issues could develop than w/a separate space.  Ah well. 

[Sarah977]

@Tsotne--Tut-0  The suggestion by @Anonymous, to provide small safes for each guest's valuables is a good one. I don't have that in my listing, as I live here and only rent out one bedroom to one guest at a time, but most of the rental homes in my area do provide safes for guests, which are bolted into a closet or cupboard. The code can be reprogrammed for each guest.

You certainly don't want a situation where a guest's money, devices, or jewelry goes missing and everyone in the house is under suspicion. 

[Tsotne--Tut-0]

Thank you so much for the valuable information.  Yes New York City has become expensive and over controlled. I agree that A building units should not be taken off the market for the sake of Airbnb but  the Over regulating in my own private house is a unlawful and chai on the neck for working class homeowners who needs to pay the bills and something needs to he find about it.

 When say rooms i mean bedrooms, not counting the common areas. 

so basically if I have 4 bedroom beside my own I can only have one person in each regardless the sizes of the room?

very interesting and I don’t understand at how that is helping people?.  I’ve had young couple who needed a room because could not afford the apartment.. 

this does not make sense at all.,

thank you so much for all your responses.. 

[Giedre-and-Andre0]

Sorry, but everyone is guessing here...
That's not really helpful.
Reg. lock: I use a bathroom "lock" handle for my guest suite.

Here the EXACT regulation in NYC

1 / 2 or class A building:

You cannot rent out an entire apartment or home to visitors for less than 30 days, even if you own or live in the building.

You must be present during your guests' stay if it is for less than 30 days.

You may have up to two paying guests staying in your household for fewer than 30 days, only if every guest has free and unobstructed access to every room, and each exit within the apartment.

Internal doors cannot have key locks that allow guests to leave and lock their room behind them. All occupants need to maintain a common household, which means, among other things, that every member of the family and all guests have access to all parts of the dwelling unit. Internal doors with such key locks create barriers to escaping in an emergency, and may result in the issuance of a temporary vacate order.

Under the NYC Administrative Code, property owners are responsible for ensuring their properties are maintained in a safe and code-compliant manner at all times. Property owners can and will be issued the violation for any illegal short-term rentals at their property -- even if it is conducted by tenants.

New York State law also prohibits the advertising of an apartment in a Class A multiple dwelling, generally a building with three or more permanent residential units, for rent for any period less than 30 days. Fines for doing so range from $1,000 to $7,500, and will be issued to the person who is responsible for the advertisement.

+ Lease regulations

+ HOA / CoOp / Condo regulations

+ Affordable housing violations

Source:

https://www1.nyc.gov/site/specialenforcement/stay-in-the-know/information-for-hosts.page

[Ann72]

@Tsotne--Tut-0  You asked the question, you didn't tell us the answer had to make sense 😂!

[Yadira22]

@Tsotne--Tut-0 I once stayed in an airbnb which had a digital door lock door on the private bedroom door- not a fire hazard as it unlocks from inside easily enough but provides guests staying in that specific room which the chance to lock and secure their private areas and belongings. Also, there is no chance of losing the keys! Hope this helps, good luck!