Inside the battle over New York’s rent law

Nearly four years after a sweeping set of rent reforms left New York landlords gobsmacked, an attack plan by building owners to rollback the law has entered its final stage.

A lawsuit challenging the 2019 rent law has failed in District Court and on appeal, a one-two punch that allows owners to bring their suit to the U.S. Supreme Court — their plan all along.

“I don’t know if the landlord groups love that I’ve described it as failing upwards,” said Kathryn Brenzel, The Real Deal senior reporter. “But that is what happened here.”

“From day one the idea was to take this issue to the Supreme Court,” Brenzel said.

As owners await a decision on whether the nation’s highest court will hear that case, landlord groups have made a second push for legislative change. 

A state bill introduced earlier this month would allow owners a reset on rents in vacant apartments, a proposed solution to the tens of thousands of empty units held off market since the 2019 rent law capped owners’ ability to raise rents after funding renovations.

This week’s edition of Deconstruct unpacks owners’ shot at success on both fronts, and offers a look inside the tensions brewing ahead of the rent guidelines board annual vote.

Listen to the latest episode of The Real Deal’s Deconstruct podcast on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Pandora and on TheRealDeal.com. 

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