Renovated Rent-Stab Question
I looked at an apartment currently being renovated after heavy fire damage. It’s soon to come on the market. I’ve confirmed that it’s rent-stabilized. Broker said that they still have to figure out what they can charge after the job is done, but they had an idea. How would I confirm as a prospective tenant…
I looked at an apartment currently being renovated after heavy fire damage. It’s soon to come on the market. I’ve confirmed that it’s rent-stabilized. Broker said that they still have to figure out what they can charge after the job is done, but they had an idea.
How would I confirm as a prospective tenant that the rent I am about to agree to is in accordance with the guidelines for a vacancy increase?
I’m assuming that any questions about that type of thing would lead to the landlord going with another prospective tenant.
Looks like to get the prior rent info from the state, I need to be the tenant. Thanks in advance for the help.
I didn’t mean to imply that it did. What I was trying to convey is that the insurance would get it back to the condition it was in before the fire. To count as an improvement it would have to increase the amenity of the apartment. So fire destroys apartment, LL uses insurance to restore apartment, can get vacancy rental increase only. If, after the restoration, LL renovates the kitchen and bathroom (i.e. rips out the restoration), those renovations count towards the 1/40th. If LL makes a mistake he’ll pay for it in Housing Court.
Insurance money DOES NOT count towards 1/40th rent increases (neither does sales tax for that matter.)
I would be extremely surprised if it is rent stabilized after they fix it up. Under the RS law, they can add 1/40th of the cost of any improvements to the monthly rent, in addition to the vacancy increases. Once the legal rent gets over $2,000 the apartment can be destabilized if vacant. Assuming that the landlord’s insurance restores it to its previous condition, the landlord can reno the bathroom and kitchen, replace the appliances and windows and pretty quickly get that legal rent over $2,000. The landlord can discount the rent but still keep the legal rent over $2,000 – that’s what happened in my last rental. Most landlords destabilize their apartments if they can, it makes it a lot easier to get rid of a troublesome tenant.
yes, brooklyn is a big place– just thought i could help on what the prior rent was if it was the place in the slope. good luck!
No, it’s not in Park Slope; Brooklyn’s pretty big.
Cool place though. The broker was a complete hindrance to me getting anything done.
If they have made structural changes during the renovation ie moved a wall, and if the property has been vacant for a number of months ( not quite sure on the time line there) then the apartment could be de-stabalised and go for market rate.
go with the links from vinca
Thank you all.
BTW, there’s “vacancy lease calculator,” but you need to know a lot more than I can know right now.
http://www.housingnyc.com/html/guidelines/vac_calc/vaccalc.html
hmm, this apt wouldn’t be in park slope near the key foods, would it?
” Landlords of rent stabilized buildings may seek rent increases for certain types of building-wide major capital improvements (MCI), such as the replacement of a boiler, and for new services, new equipment or improvements to an apartment in accordance with the law and regulations. Under certain circumstances, a landlord may also apply for a hardship rent increase.”
Remember the landlord can apply for an increase of rent base on the improvements made to the apartment. The new rent may not be as simple as an increase by a few percentage from the old rent.