Anti Rent-Control Protest
Dan Squadron is having a ‘community convention’ at BMCC on Sunday at 2 to discuss (among other things) ” Rent regulations I sponsor a bill that will close the “owner occupancy loophole†and keep tenants in their homes, and I am fighting for other vital tenant protection legislation like an end to vacancy decontrol. What…
Dan Squadron is having a ‘community convention’ at BMCC on Sunday at 2 to discuss (among other things)
”
Rent regulations
I sponsor a bill that will close the “owner occupancy loophole†and keep tenants in their homes, and I am fighting for other vital tenant protection legislation like an end to vacancy decontrol. What are your priorities for rent regulation laws? What else can I do that will help keep New York affordable and keep tenants in safe, decent and affordable homes?
”
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Let’s politely tell him that
a) Owners should be able to live in their own homes
b) Re-regulating housing will drive up costs for the rest of us and make it impossible to find new apartments as our lives change
c) Rent control/stabilization should be means-tested.
Hope to see you there!
It’s not limited to one unit. There was a case last year in Manhattan. Developer bought building with lots of rent controlled tenants. Tried to evict almost all of them under auspices that each of his children and each of their separate nannies needing their own space.
oh, please, mole. Show us those instances where someone buys old brownstone divided into 8 studios and gradually takes over as family grows.
I say B.S. to that one.
“…rent increases don’t even keep up with inflation, much less taxes, maintenance, and other costs.”
And you know this how?
If your statement were really true, thwackamole1, landlords would open their books to back up their whining. Or they’d being going bankrupt. Neither happens, though.
The issue in owner occupancy is that for every idiot like Economakis, there’s someone with a family who buys a beat-up brownstone that has been chopped into 8 studios, and gradually takes them over as finances and family size permit.
The major reason that this happens is that the rent increases don’t even keep up with inflation, much less taxes, maintenance, and other costs.
Owner occupancy permits creative recycling of the building and allows the prior owners a fair return without trying to drive the existing tenants out through lack of maintenance or harassment.
“If it was limited to one unit (I’m buying this 3fam and, if all units are RS, I can kick out one RS tenant and live in their space) I would be more okay with it. What are the existing rules like?”
– By bfarwell on April 7, 2010 9:10 AM
First, the RC/RS laws are vastly different for 3 fam buildings than they are for 6+. There are very few 3 fam buildings with RC or RS (RS doesn’t even apply 5 units or less and in 5 units or less there are rare RC, what is more common is SCRIE – Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption – which is for the life of the tenant but can’t be passed down).
I haven’t looked at the law in a while but if I remember if correctly the Owner can only take 1 RC apartment for “owner occupancy”. I believe the owner has to reside in it for at least 1 year before they can apply for a different RC unit to become “owner occupied”.
Basically if you were buying a 3 family odds are there would be no RC or RS. If there were you wold be allowed to take 1 unit for yourself. If there is a SCRIE tenant you can’t touch them until they die, literally.
(though I don’t see how it would create any economic diversity w/o means testing- you’d just have the same rich people paying less)
“Squadron told me that he believes that EVERY apartment should be rent controlled because it creates “economic diversity””
Well, I can see his point insofar as the landlord’s ability to raise rents an _infinite_ amount a) could be used to get around eviction rules, and b) Makes it harder to live in one place for very long.
But then again, I’m a socialist poor person.
Curious if you’d be okay with the means-testing being nabe-specific; ie a % of the average income in that area.
(For example, even 75k in the village isn’t going to help much.)
And while I’m vaguely sympathetic to the concept of ‘wanting to live in the building you own’, I only read about owner-occ being used by rich people to drive out low-paying tenants (I’m buying this normal-people 3fam and making it a luxury 1fam, so you gotta get out).
If it was limited to one unit (I’m buying this 3fam and, if all units are RS, I can kick out one RS tenant and live in their space) I would be more okay with it. What are the existing rules like?
If you don’t come on out, these perspectives won’t be aired.
Squadron told me that he believes that EVERY apartment should be rent controlled because it creates “economic diversity” — if you think it is bad now, think of how it will be if he prevails.