Albany, NY - Bill Would Extend Rent Regulation Laws Seven Years |
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News Source: The New York Observer
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Albany, NY - Rent regulations set to expire June 2011, would be extended in their current form by seven years in a bill introduced in the State Assembly.
The bill, introduced by Housing Committee Chairman Vito Lopez, comes as many tenant advocates had been requesting, in the very least, that the Legislature reauthorize the existing laws some time this year. “People have been asking for us to get the extender in, and take it beyond next year,” Mr. Lopez said via phone. “Some of the housing advocates wanted it; we’re responding to them.”
Mr. Lopez’s action comes in response to the uncertainty looming in the Senate—Democrats currently control it, but Republicans could conceivably retake it come November. Tenant advocates therefore worry that rent regulations could be weakened if reauthorized next year rather than now. Republicans have generally opposed rent control and rent stabilization, while Democrats have pushed for stronger regulations.
Whether or not the bill can get through the Senate is another question, and at this point it seems unlikely. Either way, it will be answered in the next few weeks, as the legislative session ends this month (although there’s still no budget, which was due in March). As on most any other contentious issue, the chamber has been torn on rent issues, primarily between two factions: those allied with the tenant advocates—Manhattan Democrats like Liz Krueger and Tom Duane—and those who are skeptical or against expanding rent regulations, such as Majority Leader Pedro Espada and Carl Kruger. The result is a stalemate in which few significant housing bills get passed (although the perennial push for the Loft Law, also sponsored by Mr. Lopez in the Assembly, was finally successful this year, as the Senate and Assembly both passed the bill).
Also in the mix on rent regulation is the governor’s bill on the issue, one that is pushed by his housing chief, Brian Lawlor. That bill would extend rent regulations this year as well, but with some modifications, including raising the rent level at which a vacant apartment converts to market rate, to $3,000 a month, up from $2,000.
There have been some talks and negotiations between the legislative houses and the governor’s office on that bill, and there has been discussion of including it in the budget, likely assuring its passage should there ever be a budget. Mr. Lopez said the governor’s office is currently modifying the bill.
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Read Comments (20) — Post Yours »
1
Jun 11, 2010 at 05:04 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
Rent control is mamash ganevah. It is also the reason much of the housing supply in NYC is in such bad shape. We don't have an entitlement to cheap housing any more than a cheap car or a cheap loaf of bread. Let the market set the rents, not some politician. Those who don't want to pay market rents can move somewhere else.
2
Jun 11, 2010 at 06:13 PM ahad ha'am Says:Report as Inappropriate
this is good news. the landlords are rich. the tenants are not. we are poor piples that need this help....call your eclected politicians and tell them to help the tenants before the landlords.....are you with me?....a gitten.
3
Jun 11, 2010 at 07:18 PM AH Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ this is good news. the landlords are rich. the tenants are not. we are poor piples that need this help....call your eclected politicians and tell them to help the tenants before the landlords.....are you with me?....a gitten. ”
"The landlords are rich"? Baloney. Some of them are middle-class at best, and rely on the income from rentals to make their mortgage payments and to maintain the properties.
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Jun 11, 2010 at 07:25 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
Rc is socialism. Its not abt landlord becoming rich. Its abt stealing from landlords and giving to poor. Managing a unit in brooklyn costs 4500 a year in expenses. So if u have rc tenant @ 55 bucks a month, the gov is forcing u to lose 4500 a month. SOCIALISM
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Jun 11, 2010 at 06:30 PM Robert Says:Report as Inappropriate
the state seems very generous with other peoples property/money.
why not pass 7 years of "Tax Control" to limit the spending of public officials.
and while we are at it, whenever you impose price controls on a commodity, you get shortages.
reso ipso loquatur
6
Jun 11, 2010 at 06:46 PM Absolutely not with you! Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ this is good news. the landlords are rich. the tenants are not. we are poor piples that need this help....call your eclected politicians and tell them to help the tenants before the landlords.....are you with me?....a gitten. ”
What you lack is an education in economics and it is obvious! If you really want to help the poor, than allow the market to operate efficiently. There is actually a fairly large supply of apartments in NYC; the issue is that relative to the rest of the country we have very infrequent turnover.
This lack of velocity, leads to a huge divide in rent between those who already have an apartment and those who are looking for one; with no means testing.
Additionally, higher velocity and efficiency, leads to downward pressure on rent, especially when there is a reasonable supply.
There may be a short uptick in rents when the apartments would be deregulated, but as the product is digested, rents would likely come back down to equilibrium. It is BECAUSE of the regulations that rent is so high!
7
Jun 12, 2010 at 09:42 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ Rent control is mamash ganevah. It is also the reason much of the housing supply in NYC is in such bad shape. We don't have an entitlement to cheap housing any more than a cheap car or a cheap loaf of bread. Let the market set the rents, not some politician. Those who don't want to pay market rents can move somewhere else. ”
You would do well as a slum landlord - perhaps you are one -
8
Jun 12, 2010 at 09:58 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ What you lack is an education in economics and it is obvious! If you really want to help the poor, than allow the market to operate efficiently. There is actually a fairly large supply of apartments in NYC; the issue is that relative to the rest of the country we have very infrequent turnover.
This lack of velocity, leads to a huge divide in rent between those who already have an apartment and those who are looking for one; with no means testing.
Additionally, higher velocity and efficiency, leads to downward pressure on rent, especially when there is a reasonable supply.
There may be a short uptick in rents when the apartments would be deregulated, but as the product is digested, rents would likely come back down to equilibrium. It is BECAUSE of the regulations that rent is so high! ”
Explain ,please, 'short uptick in rents '.
9
Jun 12, 2010 at 10:32 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ You would do well as a slum landlord - perhaps you are one - ”
Even if I was (which I am not), it wouldn't make a difference. The reason many rent controlled buildings in NYC are slums is that a landlord cannot charge a market-based rental and has not guarantee that he/she can recover the costs of building repairs. Let the market set the price and people who don't like the conditions in the building can move.
10
Jun 12, 2010 at 11:45 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ this is good news. the landlords are rich. the tenants are not. we are poor piples that need this help....call your eclected politicians and tell them to help the tenants before the landlords.....are you with me?....a gitten. ”
If "landlords are rich" then why is the loan default and foreclosure rate so high? Your comment is very ignorant. Its the equivilant of saying that all store owners are rich and all shoppers are poor. Really ignorant.
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Jun 12, 2010 at 11:49 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ Even if I was (which I am not), it wouldn't make a difference. The reason many rent controlled buildings in NYC are slums is that a landlord cannot charge a market-based rental and has not guarantee that he/she can recover the costs of building repairs. Let the market set the price and people who don't like the conditions in the building can move. ”
Move? move where? tenants in rent stabilized apartments are usually in the low income strata. These are the only apartments available to them. As for these "let the market set the price" arguments, they are masking one thing: greed!
12
Jun 12, 2010 at 11:56 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
anyone who bought a building with rent stabilized or controlled units over the last 40+ years paid a market price that took into account the rent status of those units. complete deregulation would be a windfall for the most recent owner only. maybe they should turn over a share of the profits to the old owners?
just curious: are you also against government regulation of electricity & telephone rates? Is that also socialism? how about medicare & medicaid?
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Jun 13, 2010 at 02:29 AM #12 ur ignorant Says:Report as Inappropriate
Reply to #12. Rc and rs laws became way stricter and more enforced lately. And yes, I would agree to freezing of taxes and water bills and hpd and ecb violations. Raising taxes and water bills and hpd penalties while freezing rents is socialism. When u ask me if I'm against "gov regulation" of certain industries. I don't know which parts of regulation ur refering to. If its any type of regulation that freezes price of anything I'm against it! Let free market decide value of stuff. If ur talking abt policing from wrong doing, that's gov's job. Btw I haven't heard that gov froze prices of phone service or electricity. Also, how does medicare and medicaid come in?
14
Jun 13, 2010 at 09:09 AM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
I owned a building with 1 rent controlled tenant, and the rest rent stabilized, this one rent control tenant gave more trouble than all other tenants together, they feel they own the building they keep on calling authorities for non existent problems, and request the landlords to do things for them that's not even required by law.
In my eyes,rent control makes no sense at all, this law comes straifgt from sedom or communist nations, versus rent stabilization that used to make sense when taxes were relatively low and utilities were more affordable, and the money hungry city and state agencies weren't such money hungry pigs as they are in the past decade. HPD, DOH, etc. . You name it.
Its no surprise for a landlord that hardly manages to cover his budget to get a bill in the mail for 5000 bucks on a single violation, plus interest added every day until he finds a private loan so he can pay off the legal thieves.
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Jun 13, 2010 at 09:11 AM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
I almost lost a house because of a "rent control" tenant. No, I did not know when I bought the house that it has a rent control tenant.
This whole idea of rent control must be set by Stalin or Lenin, pure socialism with no sense or reason to it.
16
Jun 13, 2010 at 09:16 AM was a landlord Says:Report as Inappropriate
Would be good idea that all rent stabilized houses should be allowed to a rent hike each and every time the taxes are being hiked, just fair, no? There's no reason a landlord that did make all his calculations before purchasing the building (if he didn't err or miscalculated it as is fact in most cases), why should he have to go find loans and funds to add to the building every month as a result of the sky high tax hikes???
A bit of fairness..
17
Jun 13, 2010 at 02:24 PM Anonymous Says:Report as Inappropriate
if the goverment wants to help the poor let them give section 8 after all they collect all the taxes y should the building owner have to subsudise rent for others ? this law is strictly socialisim the only problem is the renters are a majority and they go out voting and the politicians are afraid for ther seat thats y all lanlords should get together and do something about it
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Jun 14, 2010 at 12:01 PM awacs Says:Report as Inappropriate
One thing that is often missed in the debate is that RC/RS often RAISES rents. As studies have shown, unregulated apartments in controlled cities go for HIGHER rents than in non-controlled cities: since there is a shortage of the 'good' apartments, tenants bid up the market-rate apartments. Think of squeezing a balloon: part of it gets smaller, and part of it gets bigger ...
Further, consider that since RC/RS push down the value of buildings (right?) they lower their share of tax base, pushing up the burden on homeowners and condo/coop owners.
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Jun 14, 2010 at 12:03 PM awacs Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ if the goverment wants to help the poor let them give section 8 after all they collect all the taxes y should the building owner have to subsudise rent for others ? this law is strictly socialisim the only problem is the renters are a majority and they go out voting and the politicians are afraid for ther seat thats y all lanlords should get together and do something about it ”
"Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting about dinner" - author unknown
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Jun 18, 2010 at 02:13 PM NYC landlord Says:Report as Inappropriate
“ Move? move where? tenants in rent stabilized apartments are usually in the low income strata. These are the only apartments available to them. As for these "let the market set the price" arguments, they are masking one thing: greed! ”
mister
stop freeloading off of your landlord, and get a life!! if you can't afford a mercedes benz, you get a buick. get yourself a buick, and be happy that all these years you were driving a mercedes at a buicks prices!!!!!!!!