Rent-Stabilization Hike: Lose-Lose?
At the conclusion of the typically rowdy Rent Guidelines Board meeting last night, the board authorized increases of 4.5 percent on one-year leases and 8.5 percent on two-year leases for the city’s 1 million rent-stabilized apartments. The hike was the largest one in almost two decades, but many landlords were unhappy with the decision, saying…
At the conclusion of the typically rowdy Rent Guidelines Board meeting last night, the board authorized increases of 4.5 percent on one-year leases and 8.5 percent on two-year leases for the city’s 1 million rent-stabilized apartments. The hike was the largest one in almost two decades, but many landlords were unhappy with the decision, saying operating costs (especially fuel charges) have skyrocketed. “I am not satisfied with what we have at all,” said one landlord quoted in the Sun. According to the Times, the Rent Stabilization Association, which represents thousands of landlords, had been pushing for increases of between 10 and 15 percent. The board gave another concession to landlords in the form of a supplemental monthly rent increase of $45 for one-year leases or $85 for two-year leases for tenants who have lived in stabilized units for more than six years. Tenants, of course, expressed frustration with the board’s decision. The point we’re making is that this is a charade, Michael McKee, the treasurer of Tenants Political Action Committee, is quoted as saying in the Times. This was a done deal from the beginning. Before the meeting last night, Council Speaker Christine Quinn held a rally in support of a bill before the Legislature that would restructure the Rent Guidelines Board (which is solely comprised of members appointed by the mayor) and deny rent increases for one year on any unit with serious violations.
Board Backs Rise in Rent Up to 8.5% [NY Times]
Rent Increases Are Approved For Stabilized Apartments [NY Sun]
Photo by richarddavis.
1:09- nice try but nowhere near good enough. A good comeback doesn’t involve so much twisting and turning, as it were. On a scale of 1 to 10, you rate about a minus 8.
Heather- what you said! 🙂
You chose to be a landlord instead of renting a rent-stabilized apartment. Get it? It was your financial choice.
However, if you’re interested in ditching the mortgage, I think there’s openings in the Astral. Nothing but upside there!
It’s a free market. You have the choice to rent. There is a wide variety of inventory. Some of it is rent-stabilized. With that choice comes risk. You may have a landlord who fails to maintain the premises. You will live in a building with 6 or more units. You will find yourself weighing those options of price, convenience, square footage and safety just as we all do when we move anywhere. At the end of the day, a place to live is just that — and what you make of it with what you have.
You, the landlord with those greedy, greedy tenants who do not appreciate the great sacrifices you make for them made a choice too. When you purchased your building (at a considerable discount from what it would have been worth without those tenants, unless you’re really bad at math and market valuation), you chose to buy it WITH those tenants. Yes, with them and their extended families, who could surely take up another six jobs between them all to pay $4K a month and live in the Novo, once it gets its certificate of occupancy (especially if they sent to Trinidad for help!). I know you’d really rather be renting to a few Vassar grads with a trust and bright futures in publishing, who have a minimalist aesthetic and only one cat, or perhaps a few tasteful gays, but them’s the break. You should have bought a building with less than five units.
D’oh!
“to commit suicide you jump DOWN a coal chute, not up.”
Yes but since YOU live in a sub-basement with no windows…. and being that you’re so smart, you probably would try and jump UP the chute after reading some virtual, crazy, frantic, twisted guest post.
9:38- you need to get a life and stop focusing on me, Biff, dave, Nokilissa- don’t know what your problem is. Don’t care.I don’t know you- don’t care to. The likes of you never supported me. If I can judge by your command of the English language, I doubt you can support yourself.
As for your other questions- no, I pay far more than 300$. Unlike you, I’ve always paid my way, never sucked the blood of anyone. I also try to keep a fair perspective on issues- you have a huge amount of trouble doing that and I see your anger management classes aren’t working. As for ending my life over posts from you, sweetie- never in a million years would the likes of you be capable of making me do anything. You’re a coward who posts anonymously on a blog- this is the only way you think you can be a man. Pathetic. You haven’t got the smarts nor the cojones to do anything but spend your life trolling. Wow- what an accomplishment. And you are dumb enough to question my education?
By the way- it’s “wretched,” not “retched” and if you weren’t such a moron you would know that to commit suicide you jump DOWN a coal chute, not up. Jeesh- you can’t even get your insults right.
I am an owner. I own a rent stabilized building in Brooklyn. Let me tell you how it is.
I have good tenants. they pay the rent. fine.
No less than three of these tenants have homes in their home country. No joke. they’ve shown me the photos.
They go to and fro a few times a year. They got the apartments before I owned the building. there is no background income/asset check required. They got the apartments and pay a relatively low rent that subsidizes their lifestyle in (dominican republic/puerto rico/trinidad), take your pick.
Many live with extended families, that help maintain the properties here and there.
Now if this is my story and I am only a single landlord, how many folks in rent stabilized apartments are really in need of subsidizing?
I continue to play the game as it is set up. and I continue to increase the rent as allowed by the People’s Republic of New York.
But let me tell you, like most entitlement programs, if you are giving something away, people will naturally flock to take it. whether they need it or not.
It is a peculiar twist that the free marketers as they like to refer to themselves had no problem with the great big government rushing in to save the ass of the financial markets, thereby they figure saving their own precious one. I was in business since I was in my 20’s, and I started from zero. Never did I think anyone should support my income. When landlords make a fortune in profits, they don’t share it with the tenants. When costs are high, why should tenants subsidize landlords, how are we responsible for their income. I’ll tell you what, if a landlord can’t make money in the city then they should get the hell out, right, free marketers? In fact, we’ll all go.
so give you a break Bx many others here would question your education. Save it you’re not cute!
So you kept on renting while the conditions were crappy, just because it was a RS apt that’s the bottom line! Stop pretending.
How much was your rent? 300.00 in prime CH?
(Is there such an area anyway?)
I myself is sick and tired of supporting slick people like you.
This blog proves that you have way too much time on your hands. You are always bashing owners here and you were sucking the blood out your landlord and expected new tiles! Get out the hell out of here.
PS: if you are really retarded and can’t wipe your ass for shit and need the RS apt… My bad.
Please don’t jump up the basement coal chute opening in an attempt to end your retched life.
Besides I don’t need you writing letters complaining about me to Mr B. Yeah I read the grocery store thread Brown nose!
Many hard working immigrants live in these places. They come to NY for a better life for their families, and work 12-16 hour days 6 or 7 days a week in sh**ty jobs that you wouls never do, but someone needs to do. The rent control allows them to save their money and send their children to college so the 2nd and 3rd generation can be the next middle class that will pay taxes for your social security and to keep this city running.
3:23, by what logic did you assume you could quit your day job if you bought one measly brownstone and rented it out?
There are a lot of old-timers in my neighborhood — ex-cops, ex-sanitation workers, ex-LIRR conductors — who each acquired multiple apartment buildings during their career lives and who worked their day jobs till they day could retire and take their pensions. Before then, they spent their weekends working on their buildings.
That was how NYC real estate was before the fast-buck artists jumped into the game. It was an income *supplement*. You weren’t Donald Trump just because you owned one lousy walk-up.
Rent stabilization had been in effect for 15 years by the late 1980s. You bought that building knowing it was stabilized, what the law was and that your tenants’ rents would be indexed by the rent board, probably forever.
So whose fault is it that you didn’t invest that money in Microsoft stock instead? Albany?