In 1945, near the end of the WWII, the city instituted commercial rent control as an emergency wartime measure, authorized by the state. Advocates are calling for a similar response to the COVID-19 crisis.
‘New Yorkers who live in rent-regulated units, the vast majority of whom have only low or moderate incomes, must be protected from the destructive financial impact of the coronavirus.’
Is reality matching those predictions? Is it too early to tell? Have government agencies caught up with the dramatic reorientation of rent policies that the legislature approved?
The housing news you might have missed this week.
Sweeping rent reforms are now law. Exactly how the letter of that legislation translates into reality will depend in large part on how the state’s Division of Homes and Community Renewal publicizes and enforces it.
MCIs can be used to effect necessary repairs on rent-stabilized buildings. And MCIs can be used to get around rent guidelines and permanently hike what tenants pay. In theory, at least, both statements are true.
With the date for state rent laws to expire approaching, the Senate Majority announced Monday a series of public hearings will be held on rent regulation and tenant protection issues.
Are rent regulated apartments occupied primarily by the wealthy? Do rent regulated tenants hoard their homes?
Citing a need to address the looming problem of preferential rents without harming landlords who operate as small businesses, the Bronx borough president backs a law to prevent sudden rent spikes in exchange for a discount on property taxes.
Water damage and mold are rampant in rent-stabilized apartments at the West 174th Street address. Tenants suspect an effort to get them out. The landlord insists it’s just a leak.
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