May 8, 2007 6:03 am US/Eastern
Board Passes New Rent-Hike Guidelines
by Magee Hickey
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
The annual battle over rent regulation in New York City is hitting home again. This year, it comes as the cost of keeping a roof over your head has gone through the roof.
You know that it's late spring because it's time for the annual Rent Guidelines Board hearings on how much to raise rents for the city's 1 million rent-stabilized apartments.
In one corner are the tenants, who call the whole process a charade and say they can't possibly afford the skyrocketing rents in all five boroughs.
In the other corner are the landlords, who say rising costs from plumbing to lead paint abatement make turning a profit impossible.
And in the middle is the nine-member New York City Rent Guidelines Board who voted 5-4 Monday on night to pass the latest guidelines. The board's two tenant representatives and two owner representatives rejected the proposed ranges.
Both sides were unhappy with the results.
For one-year lease renewals, proposed tentative increases are between 2 percent and 4.5 percent, and for two-year lease renewals, they range from 4 percent to 7.5 percent.
"At the end of the day, you're going to force many owners to make a determination -- those in Manhattan who choose to give up and go condo, and those outside will end up being on the distress rolls," said Frank Ricci.
Natasha Winegar, who represents the Tenants and Neighbors group, said, "Year after year, the Rent Guidelines Board is displacing thousands of tenants with their rent increases. They are increases which are very high, [and] displace more and more tenants."
A spokeswoman for the Met Council on Housing says 270,000 people who live in rent stabilized apartments live below the federal poverty line.
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