Quoted Text

Rent control[edit]
Rent control exists in New York City and a small list of other municipalities in Nassau, Westchester, Albany, Rensselear, Schenectady, and Erie Counties.[5]

Qualification[edit]
To qualify for rent control, a tenant must have been continuously living in an apartment since July 1, 1971. When vacant, the unit becomes rent stabilized, except in buildings with fewer than six units, where it is usually removed from the program. In apartments within single and two-family homes, the tenant must have been residing in the unit continuously since March 31, 1953 in order to qualify for rent control. Once the unit becomes vacant, it leaves the rent control program and is not eligibile for rent stabilization.[6]

Rent control does not generally apply to units built after 1947.[6]

Terms[edit]
Rent control limits the price a landlord can charge a tenant for rent and also regulates the services the landlord must provide. Failure to provide these may allow the tenant to demand a lower rent.[6]

Outside of New York City, the state government determines the maximum rents and rate increases, and owners may periodically apply for increases.

In New York City, rent control is based on the Maximum Base Rent system. A maximum allowable rent is established for each unit, and every two years, the landlord may increase the rent up to 7.5% (As of 2012) until the Maximum Base Rent is reached. However, the tenant may challenge these increases on grounds that the building has violations or the owner does not need to increase the rent that much to cover expenses.

Maximum base rent[edit]
In New York City, the maximum base rent (MBR) is calculated to ensure the rent from rent control units covers the cost of building maintenance and improvements. As set up in the New York City Local Law 30 of 1970, the formula reflects real estate taxes, water and sewer charges, operating and maintenance expenses, return on capital value and vacancy and collection loss allowance. The MBR is updated every two years to reflect changes in these expenses.[7] The owner must apply for the maximum base rent system for the tenants, but before the MBR, rents were annually determined by the city/state, which developed its own set of regulations.

Rent stabilization[edit]
Rent stabilization exists only in New York City, Nassau, Rockland, and Westchester Counties.[8] It generally applies to units of six or greater built before 1974 and not subject to rent control (although owners of more recent buildings can agree to rent stabilization in exchange for tax benefits).[6] Regulation and policies may vary by municipality as to which buildings qualify. In addition, certain buildings such as non-profit housing are not included in the program, but upon leaving programs such as the Mitchell-Lama Housing Program or Section 8, they may enter rent stabilization if built before 1974. Also, apartments that are converted into co-ops and condos and vacated after July 7, 1993 may not be subject to rent stabilization.[9] In order for rents to be placed under regulation, the municipality must declare a housing emergency,[10] there has to be a rental vacancy rate of less than 5% for all or any class or classes of rental housing accommodations, which requires a housing vacancy survey to demonstrate it.

Qualification[edit]
The qualifications for rent stabilization have been changed over the years, reportedly to curb perceived abuses, which allowed the wealthy to enjoy rent increase protection that was intended to protect the working class.[11][12]

From the passage of the Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1997 to the Rent Act of 2011, rent stabilization was restricted to apartments where the legal, or stabilized, rent was under $2,000 per month. The 2011 law raised that to $2,500. The unit could be deregulated once the rent went above $2,000 under the 1997 law, $2,500 under the 2011 Act, and is either vacant or the household adjusted gross income was over $175,000 under the 1997 act or is $200,000 under the 2011 law, for two consecutive years.[13] If the stabilized rent is under $2,500, the residents' income does not affect the rent stabilized status of the apartment. A tenant has to use the stabilized apartment as their primary residence in order for the apartment to remain under rent stabilization.

Tenants who live in buildings built between February 1, 1947 and January 1, 1974 or who move into a pre-1947 building or into certain post-1974 buildings that received tax breaks (such as the 80-20 housing program) qualify for rent stabilization if the other financial terms are met. As part of city managed programs, some buildings become temporarily rent stabilized in return for a temporary reduction in real estate taxes when those buildings have been converted to residential use from another use group (commercial or industrial). Two of those programs,[14] J-51 for renovating buildings and 421-a for new construction, grant temporary rent stabilization to tenants of apartments in those building, thus overriding other qualifications.[15][16][17]

Terms[edit]
Rent stabilization sets maximum rates for annual rent increases and, as with rent control, entitles tenants to receive required services from their landlords and have their leases renewed. The rent guidelines board meets every year to determine how much the landlord can set future rents on the lease. Violations may cause a tenant's rent to be lowered.[6]

Quoted from sanfordy2

somewhere in time and space somewhere somebody wants to rent here....