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Another year has passed and I still haven’t raised the rent. I have owned a four family, 5-story brownstone in Landmarked Fort Greene since 1995; renting out three floor-thru apartments each approximately 800 sf. I purchased the building fully rented, with rents set at a then market rate $900/month. Two apartments have had active turnover with tenants staying one to three years and then moving on. The third apartment hasn’t changed occupants since I purchased the property.

I typically used the vacancies in these apartments as an opportunity to fix/repair/renovate, re-renting at market rates. Over the span of 9 years, rents went from $900 to $1400 for these apartments. The current tenants in these apartments have not had a rent increase since moving in 5 years ago. The ‘original’ tenant in the third apartment has had her rent increased once, 7 years ago, from $900 to $1050.

For years, I have avoided raising rents, hoping that my tenants would simply move on by choice, allowing me to fix/repair/renovate and charge higher rent without ‘confrontation’. Another year has passed and they still have not moved on. I really don’t blame them, they got it pretty good. Raising the rent has been a source of anxiety for me and I really want to put it behind me.

The units are not subject to stabilization or control and the tenants are currently in month-to-month leases. Market rent for similar apartments are in the $1900 to $2300 range. Taking the lower end of the scale, my units are $500 to $850 below market. I need help devising a fair and coherent strategy for bridging the difference between market rents and my actual rents.

I thought about many different ways of ‘catching up’. Q. “What would the rent have been if I had increased at 4% a year like I was supposed to?” A. $1700 for two apartments (+ $300) and $1290(+ $240) for the other. Q. “What would the rent be if I split the difference between current and market rent.” A. $1650 for two apartments (+ $250) and $1475(+ $425) for the other. Both of these options seem like a hell of increase for a tenant to bear, yet even those options leave me or short of the market rates.

How much is too much? How should discuss this with my tenants? How much time should I give them? Tia