Assembly Speaker Releases Package of Rent Regulation Proposals
April 16th, 2019
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie released a list of proposals the Assembly intends to review for possible inclusion in a package that aims to increase protections for renters. Current rent regulations are due to expire on June 15th of this year. The Assembly has scheduled public hearings for May 2nd and May 9th to discuss the proposals to determine the best path forward.
The following are among the announced proposals:
• Eliminating the major capital improvement (MCI) and individual apartment improvement (IAI) programs – This measure would eliminate programs through which landlords are able to increase rent after improvements are made to either the building or specific apartments.
• Changing preferential rent laws – Currently landlords are able to offer tenants a preferential rent which is lower than the legal regulated rent. Upon renewal of any lease, a landlord is able to adjust rent up to the legal maximum. This bill would require lease renewals to base rent increases on the preferential rate charged to the tenant instead of the maximum regulated rent.
• Eliminating vacancy decontrol and bonuses – Vacancy decontrol allows a landlord to remove an apartment from rent stabilization if any apartment becomes vacant and the legal maximum rent is $2,774.76 per month. Vacancy bonus is the currently allowed practice of authorizing a 20% increase in rent for a rent stabilized apartment that becomes vacant. One proposal would end vacancy decontrol and another would require landlords stay within Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) increases upon vacancy, instead of the 20% increase currently allowed.
• Capping rent control increases – One proposal would cap rent increases at the lesser of 7.5% (currently allowed rate) or an amount equal to the average of the last five RGB increases (typically set at a much lower rate). This proposal would also prevent fuel adjustment or pass-along increases.
• Changing the statute of limitations on overcharge lookback – Currently, the statute of limitations on the overcharging of rent by a landlord is four years. This proposal would increase the statute of limitations to six years.
• Several proposals aimed at the preservation of affordable housing – One proposal would require housing units be covered by rent stabilization laws in the event that a limited-profit housing company, buys-out of the Mitchell-Lama moderate income housing program. Another bill would require that apartments leased by not-for-profits that provide housing to vulnerable residents will remain regulated under the not-for-profit lease. Another would extend rent stabilization protection to low-income tenants living in former project-based Section 8 projects, regardless of when the buildings were initially occupied. Currently, housing accommodations in buildings occupied on or after January 1, 1974 are not subject to rent stabilization.
• Protections for manufactured homeowners – Manufactured homeowners do not own or control the property on which their home sits. One bill in the package would allow municipalities to opt-in and provide recourse for manufactured homeowners faced with large rent increases. Currently, according to the sponsor, no remedy exists for “unjustified” rent increases.
• Expanding rent protections statewide – A bill would allow other municipalities statewide to opt-in to the rent control system if there exists a housing emergency as defined by a vacancy rate of 5% or less. Currently, rent control only applies to New York City, Westchester, Nassau, and Rockland Counties.
• Limiting recoverable damages when a tenant breaks a lease – One proposal would limit damages granted to a landlord upon the breaking of a lease by the tenant to only actual damages. Tenants would still be liable for damages if the property cannot be re-rented or at a lower rate due to market considerations.
Speaker Heastie said:
“The Assembly Majority has been a long time champion of expanding and strengthening rent protections. In the state budget, we made the property tax cap permanent to provide stability to homeowners. Now we need to provide that same level of stability for tenants by reforming our rent and tenant protection laws. We have seen far too many families forced out of the neighborhoods they shaped because of the cost of rising rents and property speculators chasing profits over people. Displacement from one community means more competition for affordable housing in neighboring communities. For too long, old factions of New York State government ignored this fact and thought that by stifling reform to the New York City rent laws it would not have an impact on them locally down the line.”
REBNY President John Banks said in a statement:
“The proposals they’ve put forward so far would not address the affordable housing crisis and in fact would put hundreds of thousands of rent regulated units under severe financial distress within a short period of time.”