New York City has a system of rent regulation known as “rent stabilization.” The system was enacted in 1969 when rents were rising sharply in many post-war buildings. The system has been extended and amended frequently, and now about 1 million apartments in the City are covered by rent stabilization. Rent stabilized tenants are protected from sharp increases in rent and have the right to renew their leases.

In NYC, rent stabilized apartments are those apartments in buildings of six or more units built between February 1, 1947 and January 1, 1974.
Tenants in buildings of six or more units built before February 1, 1947 and who moved in after June 30, 1971 are also covered by rent stabilization.
A third category of rent stabilized apartments covers buildings with three or more apartments constructed or extensively renovated since 1974 with special tax benefits. Generally, these buildings are stabilized only while the tax benefits continue.

Can my landlord evict me and use my stabilized apartment for his family, and how many apartments in the building can the landlord take?

One of the advantages of being a rent stabilized tenant is the right to renew your lease. This right holds with few exceptions, and eviction for owner occupancy by the landlord or a family member is one of the exceptions.
The rent regulation laws allow the landlord of a rent stabilized building to take over one or more apartments for family use. However, he/she must give you 90 to 150 days notice before your existing lease expires that it will not be renewed. In addition, he/she must be able to prove that the apartment will be for family use.
Note that if you are 62 or older or disabled you have additional protections. If you do wish to stay in the apartment, you could simply stay put and wait for the landlord to serve you with eviction papers. The landlord will then have to prove in court that he needs the apartment for family use. The court may or may not agree with his assessment.
Regarding the number of apartments an owner can take: The Rent Stabilization Law and Code is a little vague about the number of apartments that an owner may occupy: “…only one of the individual owners of any building, whether such ownership is by joint tenancy, tenancy in common, or tenancy by the entirety to recover possession of one or more dwelling units for personal use and occupancy.” However, the DHCR informs us that an owner can take more than one unit for his or his relative’s occupancy.

Why is it getting so hard to find Rent Stabilized Apartments?

When a tenant moves out of a Rent Stabilized Apartment, the Landlord of this apartment has two options:

1) Rent the apartment as a rent stabilized apartment to the next tenant
2) Renovate the apartment and get 1/40th of the renovation cost added to the monthly rent, and if it goes over $2000 a month, he can then De-regulate the apartment!

Here is the Example for Renovation:
The tenant moves out of a rent stabilized apartment in which the rent was $1000.00 a month. The landlord legally can increase the rent 20% for change of tenancy, bringing the monthly up to $1200.00. Now the magic number for a landlord is $2000.00, so he’s $800 away from De-regulation. If the landlord Renovates the Apartment, he/she is entitled to add 1/40th of the renovation cost to the monthly rent, in this example the landlord needs to put at least $32,000 worth of renovations into the apartment to hit $2000.00. If the example apartment was a 2 bedroom, the landlord would probably demand an average rent of $4500 a month! Don’t be fooled, Landlords want to De-regulate their Stabilized units as fast as possible, it increases their rent rolls, and makes the whole building more valuable!

Rent Stabilized Apartments are really hard to find, and if you have one, Lucky You! If you would like more information on Rent Stabilization, or have any real estate questions, give us a call.

There is no question that there are some great values in today’s New York City rental market.  This market has been in a down slide since October, 2008! Apartments have already been discounted, owner paid commissions are the norm in big buildings, and there is SOME room to negotiate — but be smart! If you’re looking at numbers that include some rental complex in Connecticut or New Jersey, they’re blurring your vision.

Know the History of the building
This is a huge factor!! If a building is offering concessions like two months free, free gym membership, etc, the very best thing you can do is contact your broker and find the rental history of the building. Landlords will offer concessions to get you into the building for a number of reasons; the most major reason is that the building owes their investors so much money that the banks won’t let them reduce rents.  This is why things like free rent and owner-paid broker fees work to reduce a tenant’s overall annual cost of living.  Be warned:  at the end of lease, your free market apartment most likely increases from the discounted, incentive-based rent to a real time market rate rent one or two years down the line. Tenants might ultimately pay twice as much for these apartments.

Take the Fee Out of the Equation
There is a ton of great inventory that you will never see because you want a “no fee” rental! Think about it… why would a landlord want to pay a fee?  Because they are so nice, or maybe because your so qualified?  Sorry to break it to you, landlords are in this business to make money, and most renters in NYC are qualified! Fee apartments amortized are always less than No Fee apartments. The fee is a one time charge, which over the lifespan of your tenancy, could ultimately save you thousands!!!

Get a Pro On Your Side
Any renter needs a professional to guide them through all of the great values that are available in today’s Manhattan rental market.  A good broker should have a bird’s-eye view of the entire market landscape:  they can help you determine not only where the landlords are offering the best incentives, but they can demonstrate how you might do better to pay the broker fee and achieve a better cost benefit for the life of your lease!
Whether the vacancy rate drops more, or it remains stable as the economy starts to recover, I will be on the front lines ready with all the information and access it takes to help you secure the best deal!