NYC panel proposes 16% rent increase for 2-year leases in rent-stabilized apartments

Friday, April 21, 2023

NYC panel proposes 16% rent increase for 2-year leases in rent-stabilized apartments

The Rent Guidelines Board suggested an increase of 15.75% for two-year leases, which would be the largest increase in decades. Anthony Carlo has more on the reaction to that proposal.

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- The New York City Rent Guidelines Board is considering a significant rent increase for close to one million rent-stabilized apartments.

The mayor-appointed panel suggested an increase of 15.75% for two-year leases, which would be the largest increase in decades.

"It's a market basket of costs for owners to operate buildings," said Vice President of the Rent Stabilization Association Frank Ricci. "Now you have dramatic increases in insurance rates, property taxes which have gone up every year especially the assessments and on top of that operating costs are going thru the roof because of these government mandates."

The RSA represents the owners of a million rent-stabilized apartments in New York City. Ricci said inflation is a big factor in the suggested increase, but so is the cost of living across the board.

"Costs are going up for landlords, costs are going up for tenants-- who is in a better position to be able to absorb some of those increases," Legal Aide attorney Adan Soltren said.

Soltren also sits on the Rents Guidelines Board and hopes his fellow board members see the struggle through his clients' eyes.

"Working-class families are suffering people are barely able to make ends meet," Soltren said.

While this percentage increase is not set in stone, several groups representing renters spoke out about the potential sharp increase.

"This is outrageous. What working New Yorker can afford a 16% rent increase when the cost of living is already out of control?" the NY Working Families Party said in a tweet. "Mayor Adams and his appointees on the Rent Guidelines Board are working hard to make NYC unlivable for ordinary people."

A spokesperson for the mayor's office pointed out the number is part of a standard annual report and, "only reflects one assessment of landlords' increased costs, and does NOT in any way represent a recommendation from the RGB or this administration."

The board will host several public hearings between now and June before it sets the maximum allowed rent increase on new leases in the coming year.

While this increase only dictates rent rules for rent-stabilized housing, it's unclear how it will affect unstabilized rental apartments.

Median rent prices rose between 19% and 29% throughout the five boroughs from 2019 to 2023.

ALSO READ | Police searching for North Carolina man after car plows through dining shed, officer hurt