Marriage equality isn't the only big issue in Albany right now, how could it be when there are rent regulations to fight over? Last night the legislature was unable to even temporarily extend the existing regulations to buy time while the leaders work out the kinks on an agreement, so instead they let the rules on rent controlled and rent stabilized apartments expire. And Governor Andrew Cuomo is not amused. more ›

You've seen this movie before: Albany Republicans want fewer regulations that prevent landlords from converting rent-stabilized apartments into market-rate units, while Democrats want to strengthen the regulations a little for those constituents who can't afford to pay $1,500 a month for a 300 square foot studio in ProCro. Reforms made in the '90s make it easier for building owners to change rent-stabilized units into market-rate apartments, and rent reform advocates say this has cost the city 300,000 rent-stabilized apartments. more ›

Governor Paterson introduced legislation yesterday that would overhaul the state's rent laws in order to "preserve affordable housing stock." The legislation is in response to the Stuy-Town lawsuit Roberts v. Tishman Speyer, in which tenants prevailed but were left uncertain of their legal rent. DHCR Commissioner Brian Lawlor said in a statement, "The legislation Governor Paterson is proposing will protect all rent regulated tenants in New York State for an additional eight years, provide incentives to owners to quickly provide refunds and rent reductions to tenants in apartments that were inappropriately decontrolled and also slow the deregulation of rent stabilized apartments." more ›

The Brooklyn couple charged with scamming $59,000 out of Medicaid while having over $2 million in the bank may also have been sleazy landlords. Ariel Soudry and his father, Abraham, are currently suspected of overcharging renters at eight LES apartments. Gothamist commenter HughGass claims Soudry was his former landlord and calls him "a real piece of $hit. This is his scam real estate company that rents out rent stabilized units in his father's building (maybe grandfather's) at illegally inflated market rents. If you had a dispute with him over something stupid he'd go to the basement and turn off your power." Another anonymous source told the Daily News the same thing. more ›

Residents of luxury apartments like those at 37 Wall St may soon get a nice incentive to continue living there (you know, besides the spa and fitness center and roof deck and billiard room...): many posh buildings in the area could soon be rent controlled. Citing the October ruling that Tishman Speyer Properties wrongly charged market rents in Stuyvesant Town, a Judge Bruce E. Scheckowitz ruled that buildings built under the 421-g program, meant to revitalize Lower Manhattan in the '90s by giving developers tax breaks, should be rent stabilized unless they are co-ops or condominiums. However, the case has brought up a lot of issues because the Wall Street developments were never meant for middle class families. more ›

Hey, speaking of decreasing affordable housing stock: Rent-stabilized tenants in the recently re-branded Flatbush Gardens complex — a massive 59-building development in East Flatbush once known as the Vanderveer Estates — claim the owner of the property has intentionally shirked on repairs in an effort to push out long-time residents and replace them with market-rate renters. "You call, but they never come to fix anything," one tenant told the Daily News. "But when someone moves out, they renovate everything." more ›

The Rent Guidelines Board's annual carnival of cacophony—wherein hundreds of rent-stabilized tenants shout themselves hoarse as the board votes to raise their rents again—goes down tonight at Cooper Union. Speaking to the Daily News, board chairman Marvin Markus describes the always raucous affair as "one of the rites of spring," and quips, "Maybe we'll give out Valium." Ha ha, making a mockery of "rent stabilization" is always good for a laugh. more ›

Yesterday, the state appeals court ruled that developer Tishman Speyer "had wrongfully raised rents and deregulated thousands of apartments after receiving special tax breaks," the NY Times reports. more ›

Representative Charles Rangel is a just a magnet for media investigation these days! The NY Times questioned his four rent-stabilized apartments and, more recently, a large donation to a school being named after him; the Post found out about his vacation villa and unreported income from it. Now it's Politico which does some digging about campaign websites Rangel's son created for his dad. more ›

Inquiries are being made both internally and externally following yesterday's report of Charles Rangel's latest tax headache--this time surrounding questions of Rangel taking an "homestead" tax break on his D.C. home by claiming it was his primary residence--while primarily residing in Harlem at the time. The Post reports that watchdog group National Legal and Policy Center is filing a House Ethics Committee complaint against the congressman. And Rangel's own lawyer announced that his (in)famous accountant will review the situation, telling the Times, “The New York Post has raised a question about the tax treatment of a property the Rangels once owned. The property was sold more than eight years ago and we have asked Congressman Rangel’s accountant to retrieve the records about it.” more ›

Just days after Representative Charles Rangel was allowed to keep his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee, the NY Post reports on another possible headache for the Harlem Congressman. more ›

Upon outrage over news that he occupied four rent-stabilized apartments, Representative Charles Rangel said in July he would give up one used as a campaign office. Now, two and a half months later, Rangel's campaign office is still at Lenox Terrace, according to the NY Post. A lawyer for Rangel, who pays $630/month while the unit's market value is $1,700-2,005 (and rent stabilization only applies to residential use), says, "The campaign identified a new office in a newly restored brownstone in Harlem within three weeks of Mr. Rangel's announcement that he was leaving the Lenox Terrace space. The campaign will be the first tenants in the building, and it had to wait for the construction to be completed." But a government watchdog group thinks Rangel is being "disingenuous." more ›

The House of Representatives tabled a resolution to censure Representative Charles Rangel over his four rent-stabilized apartments in Harlem. Put forward by Republican minority leader Representative John A. Boehner (just after Republican Senator Ted Stevens pleaded not guilty to taking $250,000 in gifts), the House voted 254-138 to table the resolution, which said Rangel was a "discredit to the Congress." Rangel, who had asked the House Ethics Committee to investigate his living/renting situation, said it was all politics, "I'm just surprised they feel it's so important that they bring down an officer of the Congress in order to get some attention toward the election. It's really sad that they would feel that insecure. more ›

After breaking the story that Representative Charles Rangel had four rent-stabilized apartments at Lenox Terrace, the NY Times continues to look at the Congressman's relationship with real estate, finding that developers are some of his biggest donors. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks donations, Rangel "has collected more money from real estate interests than all but two other members of Congress this election cycle," with many coming from developers who are reshaping Rangel's district with new developments--here's a graphic. The article also suggests developers are supporting Rangel due position as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and there are also examples of Rangel helping tenants in certain situations. more ›

Yesterday, Representative Charles Rangel sent a letter to the House Ethics Committee, asking for an investigation into whether his four rent-stabilized apartments at Lenox Terrace constitute an improper gift. Thought he's emphasized he's paying the highest legal rent possible, the fact that the building has attempted to evict other rent-stabilized tenants without political clout and the city's overall lack of affordable housing has made the matter controversial enough for Rangel to give up an apartment being used as a re-election campaign office. Rangel pointedly referred to the NY Times (which broke story) in his letter, "Some in the press have repeatedly - and erroneously - insinuated wrongdoing in my dealings with the landlord at Lenox Terrace. There has been no wrongdoing." more ›

Representative Charles Rangel discussed his decision to give up one of his 3-4 rent-stabilized apartments by saying his re-election campaign-- which used a one-bedroom apartment with a monthly rent of $630 at Lenox Terrace in Harlem--"had decided they were going to move anyway" since the lease is up in October. Last week, the NY Times revealed that Rangel rented four apartments at rent-stabilized rates (one apartment is made up of two units) raising questions about whether Rangel was implicitly receiving a gift from the landlord, a large real estate developer. more ›

Representative Charles Rangel gave a press conference defending his four rent-stabilized apartment at Lenox Terrace. The NY Times had reported on Rangel's unusual rent-stabilized "riches" in an article today (which was online last night), and the paper has three reporters on the scene at the press conference. The Observer observer this exchange between the 78-year-old Congressman and a Times reporter:

"Paying the legal rent is not a gift. Are you doing this deliberately or are you just stupid? Listen -- if you are paying a legal rent and without the law the rent would be higher, just what school did you go to that could misinterpret that as a gift?” more ›

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Governor David Paterson never ceases to surprise us. It turns out his two-bedroom apartment in Harlem is rent-stabilized, so he and his wife only pay $1,250/month for their home. more ›