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"That's your rent control. Rent doesn't ever go up." Huh? Controlled rents go up whenever the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal says the

"That's your rent control. Rent doesn't ever go up." Huh? Controlled rents go up whenever the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal says they do; right now they're in the process of increasing by as much as 9.6% by 2018 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/01/nyregion/facing-increase-rent-controlled-tenants-complain-of-being-singled-out.html http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/01/nyregion/facing-increase-r... and since 1975 they've gone up 707% http://www.nyshcr.org/Rent/PublicHearingInformation/SAFR-Prelim-with-tables.pdf http://www.nyshcr.org/Rent/PublicHearingInformation/SAFR-Pre...

mancerayder 10y ago
Fair enough. I stand corrected on that sentence. A few nuances need to be pointed out, though. While they increase, they increase to levels set by the city based on a calculation that incorporates costs of things like taxes, utilities and whatnot.[1] In addition the owner has to apply for the increase, which is laborious and more than half the time never even is done. But the point is that they started at very low levels, and even if things eventually catch up, rent controlled units are typically quite below even rent stabilized units in rent asks. If a genie appeared and magically offered you a choice between a stabilized unit and a rent-controlled one, equivalent in every other way, without knowing any other facts you'd most likely pick the rent-controlled one, even if there's been a 7-fold increase since the 70's as you point out, because you'd be more likely to pick the cheaper of the two. 1 - "New York City Local Law 30 of 1970 stipulates that Maximum Base Rents be established for rent controlled apartments according to a formula calculated to reflect real estate taxes, water and sewer charges, operating and maintenance expenses, return on capital value and vacancy and collection loss allowance. The Maximum Base Rent (MBR) is updated every two years by a factor that incorporates changes in these operating costs." (http://www.nyshcr.org/Rent/FactSheets/orafac22.pdf http://www.nyshcr.org/Rent/FactSheets/orafac22.pdf)
- busterarm 10y ago
  Except you can't pick a rent-controlled unit, because you can't get into one unless you were in before 1971. You can be transferred one as immediate-family but it requires 2 years of financial interdependence between you and the tenant -- not easy.

mancerayder 10y ago

Fair enough. I stand corrected on that sentence. A few nuances need to be pointed out, though. While they increase, they increase to levels set by the city based on a calculation that incorporates costs of things like taxes, utilities and whatnot.[1] In addition the owner has to apply for the increase, which is laborious and more than half the time never even is done. But the point is that they started at very low levels, and even if things eventually catch up, rent controlled units are typically quite below even rent stabilized units in rent asks. If a genie appeared and magically offered you a choice between a stabilized unit and a rent-controlled one, equivalent in every other way, without knowing any other facts you'd most likely pick the rent-controlled one, even if there's been a 7-fold increase since the 70's as you point out, because you'd be more likely to pick the cheaper of the two. 1 - "New York City Local Law 30 of 1970 stipulates that Maximum Base Rents be established for rent controlled apartments according to a formula calculated to reflect real estate taxes, water and sewer charges, operating and maintenance expenses, return on capital value and vacancy and collection loss allowance. The Maximum Base Rent (MBR) is updated every two years by a factor that incorporates changes in these operating costs." (http://www.nyshcr.org/Rent/FactSheets/orafac22.pdf http://www.nyshcr.org/Rent/FactSheets/orafac22.pdf)

busterarm 10y ago
Except you can't pick a rent-controlled unit, because you can't get into one unless you were in before 1971. You can be transferred one as immediate-family but it requires 2 years of financial interdependence between you and the tenant -- not easy.