As rent-controlled apartments grow scarce, landlord-tenant battles enter the spotlight

Fewer than 40,000 rent-controlled apartments remain in New York City, down from 155,361 units in 1987, and their mostly elderly occupants are increasingly locked in battles with impatient landlords who want them out. Magnus Saethre, a 97-year-old World War II veteran who pays $63 per month for a one-bedroom apartment in Sunset Park, has paid $25,000 in legal fees because he alleges that the landlord has harassed him and his caregiver while letting his unit deteriorate in an attempt to force him out. His story isn’t an uncommon one, and the only recourse the city’s Division of Housing and Community Renewal has is to issue fines and to lower the occupant’s rent payments even further as an incentive for landlords to address the problems. [Post]