Rent Stabilization Association, CHIP discussing merger

Two landlord groups with different lobbying strategies but similar members may join forces. 

The Community Housing Improvement Program and the Rent Stabilization Association are in talks to potentially combine, according to industry sources. It is not clear what a merger would mean for the groups’ leaders, names and members.

CHIP and RSA declined to comment. 

In some ways, a merger is eminently logical: The groups both represent rent-stabilized landlords in New York and have teamed up to challenge New York’s rent law; they recently filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court. They sometimes release joint statements.

Combining the groups would mean members would not need to choose between the two or pay two sets of dues.

But the groups also have different leadership styles and approaches to city and state politics.

The RSA is inexorably linked to rent stabilization in the city: When the state’s rent stabilization law was enacted in 1969, rent-stabilized building owners were required to join the RSA.

The trade organization was also charged with creating codes to govern these properties, which were then approved by a city housing agency. Self-governance ended in 1985.

RSA represents large rent-stabilized owners, as well as condo and co-op boards, while CHIP’s members include midsized owners.

This legislative session, CHIP executive director Jay Martin lobbied for passage of a bill that would allow landlords to reset rents on vacant rent-stabilized apartments after long-term tenancies. RSA and the Real Estate Board of New York were more focused on preventing the passage of good cause eviction.

Martin has also called for the real estate industry to change its lobbying approach, advocating for more grassroots efforts and social media literacy. The group launched a TikTok campaign showcasing apartments in dire need of repair, and Martin is ubiquitous on Twitter.

RSA’s longtime president, Joseph Strasburg, wants nothing to do with TikTok. In a recent interview, he told TRD that he much prefers a face-to-face meeting or phone call. (The group does have a Twitter account, but a search for a Strasburg account came up empty.)

RSA has more spending power than CHIP and has poured money into the election campaigns of elected officials on both sides of the aisle. But it operates largely behind the scenes, unlike Martin’s more public-facing group.

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Neither group was particularly successful during the state legislative session that ended in June. RSA did get through without good cause eviction passing, but has made little progress reversing the severe restrictions on rent increases passed in 2019 for the state’s 1 million rent-stabilized units. CHIP got its rent-reset measure introduced, but it gained little traction. In fact, tenant groups chased some sponsors off the bill.

Both sides failed to prevent the legislature from passing bills that would subject some owners of rent-stabilized buildings to large court judgments for past rent overcharges. They are hoping Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoes the bills when they arrive at her desk.

In an interview last month, Strasburg indicated that members of a coalition opposing good cause eviction were planning to meet in the fall to discuss the upcoming legislative session.

“From my perspective, we work when we agree on priorities,” he said. “The real fighting has to be against those who are hurting housing in the state of New York.”