Don't Raise the Rent!

Shortly after I moved into my apartment a year ago, I learned that my apartment building is listed on the city housing department's website as rent stabilized. I was never told this by my landlord and was given a regular market-rate lease. It was at a really good rate, though -- $1000 for a fairly spacious one-bedroom in a good location. My landlord also refused to clean or paint the apartment before I moved in, and I spent many hours scrubbing it top to bottom after the previous tenant, who was a complete pig. I decided not to say anything unless he tried to raise my rent.

Well, now my lease is up for renewal and I just received notice from my landlord that my rent is going from $1000 a month to $1100 a month. Help! What should I do? I can't afford to move, I don't want to give up my apartment (although the landlord is a schmuck, it's a great place), and I don't want to end up on any sort of tenant blacklist. Any suggestions?

-Chris

You have the right to file a Fair Market Rent Appeal (FMRA). According to the Rent Guidelines Board:

An FMRA is a challenge to that negotiated rent, and it must be filed by the tenant within ninety days after the notice to the tenant of the initial legal registered rent. [...] If the tenant challenges this initial legal registered rent and the rent is found to be excessive, the rent as adjusted by DHCR will become the Adjusted Initial Legal Rent, or the Legal Regulated Rent. If the appeal is denied or if no appeal is filed within the ninety-day period, then the negotiated initial legal registered rent becomes the lawful rent, not subject to challenge. All future rent increases, whether for a renewal or vacancy lease, are subject to limitations provided under the Rent Stabilization Law.

So, basically, you can eat the extra cost, or file an appeal. Technically, your rent could have only been increased by 3.5% for a 1 year lease (so the new rent on an apartment that rents for $1000 a month would be $1035, right?). Good luck!

There's lots of other information on rent stabilization at the Rent Guidelines Board website linked above.

We get a lot of housing-related questions here at Ask Gothamist, and we're of course happy to answer them. Be sure to check out our Ask Gothamist Guide to Housing before you send us a question, though, in case we've already answered it. If we haven't, you can of course send an email to ask (at) gothamist (dot) com.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Erin O'Brien in Miscellaneous on February 10, 2005 11:48 AM

Comments [rss]

Treble Clef

Whoops, my mistake....treble is fine!

Treble Clef

Treble? That's a music term. You mean TRIPLE!

honey2

I am not longer there b/c I got married and moved to Fort Greene--wonderful landlords now. I know about the treble damages but the judges were not into it--tenants really are screwed--even when they are legally in the right. the judges just allowed the LL to file amended registrations to cancel out her false ones. Thanks for asking.

la depressionada

Honey2, I am curious -- why are you no longer living there. Did your landlord force you out? There's recourse for that as well.

I financed my law school education with the money forfeited by my landlord of his rent overcharges. You might be entitled to treble damages as well. (The law may have changed; this is a while ago.)

One of the reasons that rents are astronomical was blatant flouting of rent laws by landlords in the 80s and 90s. Now, tenant's rights have been so eroded -- e.g. destabilization over 2K -- that it looks like the war is lost.

I viewed it as my civic duty to fight my landlord. Moreover, 4 of his buildings together went on a rent strike and won over 250K because of his despicable practices. If you are being overcharged, chances are your neighbors are as well. It's in every tenant's best interest to actively participate in a tenant's association. It's really your only protection.

People that can help: Met Council on Housing; Good Old Lower East Side.

Chris

Thank you all for the additional suggestions.

Honey, the number you gave me is for the Deparment of Housing and Community Renewal - the same office that told me they couldn't find out my building's rent stabilization history without my filing a formal complaint (thus tipping off the landlord, and I'd rather not piss him off unless I know for sure I'm in the right)! But I went ahead and gave it a shot and found out my building became stabilized in 1984. Now I just need to find out about the tax abatement, I think.

TenantNet, I will be sure to see if I can find any helpful info on your site. It supposedly IS under a J-51, but the DHCR office told me that my apartment should still be stabilized if the tax abatement happened after the building was stabilized. Should I trust what they said?

honey

http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/ora/pubs/html/orafac1.htm

this is from a fact sheet on rent control and rent stab at the NY Division of Housing and Community Renewal, which administers the rent stab laws:

"Rent Stabilization

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, 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."

They have a rent info line -718-739-6400 --and i think it's the number I called where i was able to request the rent stab registration information on my apartment. they just mailed it right to me. YOu can find this out w/out making a complaint.

Good luck!

TenantNet

Perhaps Chris should get some expert advice at TenantNet (www.tenant.net). Based on the information provided, this is not a Fair Market Rent Appeal (FMRA) situation, but likely a simple overcharge and failure to provide a RS lease. FMRA are avenues to challenge the first RS rent after a unit leaves Rent Control. There's insufficient information within the post to suggest further, but definately further investigation is warranted. As for the follow-up, the building oculd be under a J-51 or 421(a) tax exemption program. But the tenant's rights in those situation depend on the underlying facts.

matt

Having a tax abatement can exempt an owner from rent stabilization? In other words, the owner is paying less (or no) tax and has the right to charge higher rents? Why is that?

Chris

Thanks so much for the advice. Since emailing you guys, I've visted the state Housing and Community Development office, where I learned that there is a tax abatement on my property that may make it exempt from rent stabilization. They told me that if the stabilization was in effect before the tax abatement began, then it should still be stabilized. I asked if there's any way to find out when it became stabilized and when the abatement began, and they said not unless I file a complaint, but if I do that my landlord will be notified that they're investigating. It seems to me that both of these things should be matters of public record that I should be able to find out without tipping him off. I only have a couple more weeks to send the renewal back, so unless I can find this stuff out before I do I'm probably going to have to eat it. Arrgh!

honey2

Talk to your landlord, but if he or she is anything like my former landlord in park slope-beware, you could be starting a war. MY LL wanted to raise my rent by 50%. I checked and discovered that my apt was rent stab and she had been reorting that she was charging the legal rent, which was 6hundred and change, when actually she was charging me 950 and wanted to take it to 1400. I sent her a polite note saying that I thought the 50% raise was unfair and according to City records was not legal. She immediately sent me eviction papers and for about 18 months it was a huge fight--i had an awesome lawyer, and she was in the wrong, but hte housing court judges in Brooklyn are mostly losers, so it was a gamble going there. BUT i did end up with about a year of no rent and about 6 months of $500 rent--so i guess i won but it was hard dealing with the landlord's nasty behavior. She was so dumb, though, if she had just taken my initial letter and talked to me about it i would have agreed to a raising of my rent--just not 50%! Good luck!

brother

If your landlord is charging you more than the rent that is registered with HPD, he/she is breaking the law. If the landlord is charging you less than the registered rent they are not required to give you a rent-stabilzed lease but ARE required to notify you that thare are doing so, and inform you what the registered rent is.

First question ... have you talked to your landlord? They know the rules, all you have to do is ask.