New York – The battle to renew New York’s rent-regulation laws may be decided next month, far earlier than in the past – because the foes have been crossing swords since last summer.
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The laws that cap rent increases on 1million city apartments expire in June.
Landlord groups, tenant advocates and politicians are all in rough agreement that they should be extended.
That’s a change from the last time they were up for renewal, in 2003, when Senate Republicans threatened to let them expire – and ended up forcing Assembly Democrats to accept a simple renewal in the dead of night.
Now Assembly Democrats have a powerful lever at their disposal to get a better deal for tenants this time.
The real estate industry is desperate to renew a tax break known as 421-a that spurs new apartment building development, and they have Senate Republicans on their side.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says developers won’t get it unless they acquiesce on changing the rent laws.
“The challenge is how we are able to achieve a pro-rent-regulation agenda,” said an optimistic Assembly Housing Committee Chairman Vito Lopez (D-Brooklyn).
If all sides are able to reach a deal, they hope to wrap it into a deal linked to the budget Gov. Cuomo wants to deliver by March 31.
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Vito Lopez is for rent control of course because the taxpayers give him the property & we pay the construction cost as well so who cares if the guy that does everything legal gets screwed not Vito Lopez
Its time to phase out rent control entirely over the next several years. There still may be some poor (especially the elderly) who need assistance for a short period but 90 percent of those in rent-controlled apartments should either pay the market rate or move to cheaper housing. This socialist welfare experiment has been a big failure, has limited the investment in new housing and simply “redistributes the wealth” from Joey the Landlord to tennants who get to live in subsidized buildings.
Perhaps those of you who believe in ending rent regulation should also agree to get rid of affordable housing as well. Why should my tax dollars and government land subsidize someone who decides to live a lifestyle they can’t afford?