---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Martin F.Collins <collinsm@assembly.state.ny.us>
Date: Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 8:08 PM
Subject: News from Assemblymember Adriano Espaillat: Now is the time to fix NYC’s rent-regulation laws once and for all
To: undisclosed-recipients
Dear Tenants:
New York City consistently numbers among the country’s most expensive cities, making it hard for working families and middle-income people to live here. Most city residents are renters, making them vulnerable to an unpredictable, out-of-control market. That’s why the Assembly Majority has been fighting for years to fix current rent laws. New York City loses over 10,000 units to deregulation every year – 300,000 since 1997! The unchecked deregulation depletes affordable housing stock and makes it next to impossible for the people who make our city work – like firefighters, police officers, nurses and teachers – to live here.
For over a decade the Assembly Majority has battled landlords who would like nothing less than the total dissolution of New York City’s rent protection laws. But with the effects of the recession ravaging our city and our job market, bureaucratic bickering is no longer enough. Now is the time for action.
The Assembly passed a package of bills to protect tenant rights and ensure that middle- and lower-income people who work here can afford to call New York City home. The bills are designed to promote fairness in renting procedures in rent-regulated communities.
The 10-bill rent regulation package passed by the Assembly includes measures to:
· Allow New York City to regulate its own rents (A.1688);
· Repeal vacancy decontrol of apartments renting at $2,000 per month or more, and recapture all formerly rent-regulated apartments that rented for less than $5,000 per
month in New York City and $3,500 outside of New York City (A.2005);
· Increase civil penalties on landlords who harass tenants or who violate the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal’s rent-regulation orders (A.2002);
· Reduce the allowable rent increase after a vacancy from 20 percent to 10 percent and limit the number of increases per year (A.1686);
· Limit a building owner’s ability to recover a rent-regulated apartment for personal use (A.1685);
· Increase the rent and income deregulation thresholds (A.860);
· Require landlords who charge a rent lower than the maximum amount to offer that same base rent as long as the same tenant resides in the apartment (A.465);
· Permit the declaration of an emergency pursuant to the Emergency Tenant Protection Act for rental housing accommodations located in buildings formerly covered by a
project-based assistance contract pursuant to Section 8 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 (A.1687);
· Extend the recovery time for major capital improvement (MCI) expenses and require that rent surcharges authorized for MCIs cease when the expenses have been
recovered (A.1928); and
· Protect tenants in Mitchell-Lama developments from rent increases when a project withdraws from the program (A.857).
Without rent regulation, only the rich would be able to afford city living. We need to keep New York City vibrant and diverse. These bills will take some of the pressure off struggling families and keep more affordable housing within reach for our hardworking men and women.
Sincerely,
Adriano Espaillat
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