New York City Extends the Fine and Interest Reduction Enabling Recovery (FAIRER) Program
Eligible Environmental Control Board (ECB) Judgments can be Resolved at a Reduced Cost through March 20, 2022
The New York City Department of Finance announced a 90-day extension of the FAIRER (Fine and Interest Reduction Enabling Recovery) Program to allow property owners to pay a reduced amount to resolve eligible Environmental Control Board (ECB) judgments. The FAIRER Program is an amnesty program for individuals and businesses who have unresolved judgments for ECB violations issued by agencies such as the Sanitation, Fire and Buildings Departments. Eligible violations can range anywhere from littering to working without a permit from the Buildings Department.
Local Law 81 of 2021 authorized the program and established different reduction amounts depending on factors such as whether an individual or business attended a hearing or whether the judgments occurred during or prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The FAIRER Program covers two types of judgments: those that only require payment and those that require both payment and corrective action. A compliance judgment is a judgment arising out of a notice of violation that includes an order requiring the correction of the violation. A compliance judgment may be resolved under the FAIRER Program only if the issuing agency issues a certificate of compliance or if the Department of Finance receives an electronic record indicating compliance on or before the last day of the FAIRER Program period.
The amount that customers can save will depend upon when their violations went into judgment and whether the party named on the violation (respondent) attended a hearing held by the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings.
To participate in the FAIRER Program, respondents or payors must pay their eligible reduced judgments in full and agree to the program’s terms and conditions no later than March 20, 2022.
For more information, including all FAIRER Program eligibility criteria, visit www.nyc.gov/fairer.
