STATE OF NEW YORK

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

ERIC T. SCHNEIDERMAN BRUCE D. FELDMAN ATTORNEY GENERAL ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL SPECIAL COUNSEL

RECORDS ACCESS OFFICER

THE CAPITOL, ALBANY, NY 12224-0341 PHONE (518) 776-2447 FAX (518) 915-7752 * NOT FOR SERVICE OF PAPERS FOIL@AG.NY.GOV

June 30, 2015 via e-mail: louis.flores@progressqueens.com Mr. Louis Flores Progress Queens

RE: Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) Request # 150301 Dear Mr. Flores:

This letter responds to your correspondence dated May 27, 2015, which, pursuant to the FOIL, requested the following:

[I] am doing research about the 421-a tax break program.

I am seeking the following from the state Attorney Generals Office under the states FOIL law and applicable regulations:

(a) records/statistics going back ten (10) years in connection with complaints of any kind made to the state Attorney Generals Office by tenants in affordable housing in buildings built with 421-a tax abatements; and

(b) records/statistics going back ten (10) years in connection with how the state Attorney Generals Office referred/resolved/disposed of these complaints.

The Freedom of Information Law, Public Officers Law, 89(3) requires a requestor to reasonably describe the records requested. A requestor meets that responsibility when an agency can identify and locate records based on the terms of the request. In short, whether a FOIL request reasonably describes the records sought depends not just on the terms of the request, but also on the nature of an agencys filing, indexing or record-retrieval mechanism.

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) cannot locate the records you seek, if they exist, on the basis of the information you have provided. Despite the fact that it is specific, our records are not coded or maintained by the particulars of your request. Because OAGs records are not indexed in a manner that would enable the identification and location of documents

Mr. Louis Flores June 30, 2015 Page 2

responsive to your request, your FOIL request must be denied.

You have a right to appeal the foregoing decision. If you should elect to file such an appeal, your written appeal must be submitted no later than 30 days after your receipt of this letter to Kathryn Sheingold, Records Appeals Officer, State of New York, Office of the Attorney General, Division of Appeals and Opinions, The Capitol, Albany, New York 12224. You may reach the Records Appeals Officer at (518) 776-2009.

Very truly yours,

Bruce D. Feldman Assistant Attorney General