Buying a Rent-Stabilized Bldg
My parents and I were looking at a 6 family building with 4 rent stabilized tenants, 1 vacant, and the owners apartment. My parents would take the owners place and I would take 2 of the other apts to combine for my own growing family. Pleeeeease don’t go all rent-stabilized crazy on me, but would…
My parents and I were looking at a 6 family building with 4 rent stabilized tenants, 1 vacant, and the owners apartment. My parents would take the owners place and I would take 2 of the other apts to combine for my own growing family. Pleeeeease don’t go all rent-stabilized crazy on me, but would I be able to take one of the rent stabilized places over to do this? If so, can I pick any of the stabilized units? I suppose I would pick the one paying the least since the higher income from the others is what is making my mortgage manageable. Does it matter which one I decide to ask to move out? Any thoughts on the matter are appreciated. I’m really not looking to be some evil landlord- just want a place for my family and parents to live with a bit of income.
thwackamole1- why would you do it that way? They just want one other apartment- presently occupied- for the son to combine into his living space. Maybe I’m confused but I thought he said there is only 1 vacant apartment, the owner’s apartment and 4 RS apartments- all occupied.
It really is a bad idea.
Which tenant are you going to pick? The one who pays the least rent? Isn’t that a little self-serving? DO you think the rent stabilization laws of the city would still be around if it were that easy to pick and chose who you wish to evict? If you are even asking this question, you are in over head. The only way this would work, and I know I am being a bit zinical here, is if you know Tony Soprano personally. That is how tenants are evicted in Brooklyn.
Sad but true.
It can be done in theory. In practice, it tends to depend on the difference between R/S and free market rents.
To begin with, you need to know when the leases expire and plan your closing for at least 5 months before that. Then you give them a Golub notice, and be super-careful about service. Then you try to evict them.
What I would do here (assuming infinite money) is convert the two empty apts to 1; obtain a C of O for a five-family. Now rent out the owner’s apt and the newly combined apartments.
Now you and your parents each go after two R/S apartments each.
sounds like a very bad idea to me.
bessie hit it on the head. the person who sees the unit as their home will fight. not everyone sees their apartment as a true home, their neighborhood as their community.
while ny law gives tenants a lot of rights, it also favors small landlords who are really planning on living in the building. i wouldn’t choose which unit to take on the rent roll because in the end, the lower the rent, in general, the longer the tenant has been a resident. it would be a hard move for anyone who has spent 17 years in a building. (that being said, my friend just willingly jumped ship on a regulated cheap apartment in the city for a nice garden apartment in clinton hill.) it will cost you as much money if not more over the long run to fight certain tenants.
for my money, with rent dropping 10%ish, it is a shoppers market, so i wouldnt base mortgage payments on inflated, raging economy rents.
can’t you just buy a real house or an available apartment and leave people’s lives alone? sorry, im just giving you the opinion of a lot of people, even tho i know it’s not popular here.
*rob*
My main advice — don’t depend on a comments section to get your advice!!
Case in point — the poster who points to the Economakis case as relevant for your concerns. NOT. Google Economakis and you’ll see. This family is trying to prove that they really plan to convert their 60-room, 11,575-square-foot East Village tenement into a single-family residence — rent stabilized tenants suspect (probably rightly) that this is b.s.
Is one of you a lawyer?
If not, I would forget it.
This is what NYC Rent Guildelines states:
Rent Stabilization:
In NYC, rent stabilized apartments are those apartments in buildings of six or more units built between February 1, 1947 and January 1, 1974.
Tenants in buildings of six or more units built before February 1, 1947 and who moved in after June 30, 1971 are also covered by rent stabilization.
A third category of rent stabilized apartments covers buildings with three or more apartments constructed or extensively renovated since 1974 with special tax benefits. Generally, these buildings are stabilized only while the tax benefits continue.
Many Exceptions:
THERE ARE NUMEROUS EXCEPTIONS TO BOTH OF THESE GENERAL CATEGORIES. For example, if the legal rent exceeded $2,000 following a vacancy the unit may be deregulated. Or, if the unit was in a building converted to a co-op it may be deregulated upon vacancy.
To determine if your apartment is under rent stabilization or rent control, contact the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal at (718) 739-6400 or (212) 961-8930.
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What exactly is rent stabilization?
New York City has a system of rent regulation known as “rent stabilization.” The system was enacted in 1969 when rents were rising sharply in many post-war buildings. The system has been extended and amended frequently, and now about 1 million apartments in the City are covered by rent stabilization. Rent stabilized tenants are protected from sharp increases in rent and have the right to renew their leases. The Rent Guidelines Board sets the allowable percentage increase for renewal leases each year. Current and past guidelines can be accessed here.
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Can my landlord evict me and use my stabilized apartment for his family, and how many apartments in the building can the landlord take?
One of the advantages of being a rent stabilized tenant is the right to renew your lease. This right holds with few exceptions, and eviction for owner occupancy by the landlord or a family member is one of the exceptions.
The rent regulation laws allow the landlord of a rent stabilized building to take over one or more apartments for family use. However, he/she must give you 90 to 150 days notice before your existing lease expires that it will not be renewed. In addition, he/she must be able to prove that the apartment will be for family use.
Note that if you are 62 or older or disabled you have additional protections. If you do wish to stay in the apartment, you could simply stay put and wait for the landlord to serve you with eviction papers. The landlord will then have to prove in court that he needs the apartment for family use. The court may or may not agree with his assessment.
Regarding the number of apartments an owner can take: The Rent Stabilization Law and Code is a little vague about the number of apartments that an owner may occupy: “…only one of the individual owners of any building, whether such ownership is by joint tenancy, tenancy in common, or tenancy by the entirety to recover possession of one or more dwelling units for personal use and occupancy.” However, the DHCR informs us that an owner can take more than one unit for his or his relative’s occupancy.
Contact DHCR at (718) 739-6400 or (212) 961-8930 for additional information on this subject, and see the fact sheet on eviction for owner occupancy.