Landlords Of NYC's Rent-Stabilized Housing Want Biggest Hike Since 2013

NEW YORK, NY — After two consecutive rent freezes for rent-stabilized housing and a failed lawsuit contesting it, New York's rent-stabilized landlords are pushing for hikes this year.

The Rent Stabilization Association, an organization which represents 25,000 landlords owning about a million rent-stabilized units, will propose rent increases of 4 percent for one-year leases and 8 percent for two-year leases during a Thursday hearing of the Rent Guidelines Board, a spokesman for the RSA told Patch.

The meeting is the first Rent Guidelines Board hearing this year that will hear testimony from landlord and tenant groups.

The 4 and 8 percent hikes would be the largest rent increase for rent-stabilized housing since 2013, according to Rent Guidelines Board information.

There's currently no indication that the Rent Guidlines Board — a group of nine members appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio — will honor the Rent Stabilization Association's requests. The association recently called the board "corrupted" by de Blasio, who supported rent freezes over the past two years.

The Rent Stabilization Association is calling for the rent hikes because landlords have suffered during the consecutive freezes, association president Joseph Strasburg said.

"Over the past three years, owners of rent-stabilized apartments have experienced an increase in operating costs in excess of 11%, according to RGB data. Over that same period, the RGB has limited rent increases to 1%, including consecutive rent freezes in 2015 and 2016 – depriving landlords of the only revenue source they need to pay property taxes, which de Blasio has raised every year, and to maintain, repair and preserve affordable housing for their tenants," Strasburg said in a statement.

The Rent Stabilization Association maintains that low wages, not high rents, are the real cause behind the affordable housing crisis in New York City.

While the Rent Guidelines Board may not decide to hike rents by as much as 4 percent on one-year leases, the group's own studies suggested that the figure may be in-line with operating costs. Last year's housing reports commissioned by the RGB determined that the cost of operating rent-stabilized apartments decreased 1.2 percent in 2015 — possibly an anomaly due to the drastic reduction in fuel prices.

The board's housing reports for 2017 calculated that the price of operating rent-stabilized buildings increased by 6.2 percent in 2016 and is projected to increase another 4.4 percent next year.

The Rent Guidelines Board will take a preliminary vote on April 25 at The Great Hall at Cooper Union on East Seventh Street.

Photo of 2016 Rent Guidelines Board vote by Patch