The city’s Rent Stabilization Guidelines Board is poised to take a final vote Tuesday on whether or not to increase rents by at least 1 percent.
The board is likely to favor an increase given its preliminary vote earlier this year. In April, the board voted to increase rents by 1 to 3 percent for one-year leases and two to four percent for two-year leases.
The decision was partly shaped by a board study that showed landlord costs rose substantially last year, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to the report, costs jumped 6.2 percent over the past year. Property taxes, which make up roughly a quarter of all costs, rose 7.8 percent, according to the study. (The Real Deal also studied the issue in April.)
For the past two consecutive years, the board has voted to freeze rents on one-year leases. The decision hasn’t sat well with landlords. The Rent Stabilization Association filed a lawsuit last year challenging the latest rent freeze, but a New York State Supreme Court tossed the complaint in March.
The group has argued that the nine-person board has favored tenants due to the influence of Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“The tenants are on a tear because they are playing the game on home turf,” Jack Freund, executive vice president of the Rent Stabilization Association, told the Journal. [WSJ] — Kathryn Brenzel