Today, it was decided that the rent increases for rent stabilized apartments in New York will be 3% on 1 year leases and 6% on 2 year leases. These rent increases are down from last year but definitely higher than rumored earlier this month. The topic has attracted much publicity in the New York area over the past few weeks. It had been thought that the rent increases would be denied and the current rental rates for this year would freeze for the time being. Now that the increase has been approved, landlords for Rent Stabilized buildings can begin to prepare for offering their renewal leases with the increased rates.
We will post more about this topic in the next week. If you are a landlord in a rent stabilized building and need assistance preparing a renewal lease or commencing eviction proceedings, please feel free to call (516) 858-2620 to speak with a Landlord Tenant Attorney!
Rent Stabilization Rules
Under certain circumstances, the Rent Stabilization rules (Rent Stabilization Code) allows a landlord to recover a stabilized apartment for personal use.
In a recent case, Nestor v. Britt, 2012 NY Slip Op 22034 – NY: Appellate Term, 1st Dept. 2012, the court stated the following:
We agree, essentially for reasons stated by Civil Court, that petitioner-landlords are barred from maintaining the within owner use holdover proceeding based upon their demonstrated failure to comply with the equivalent housing requirements of Rent Stabilization Code (9 NYCRR) § 2524.4(a)(2). The cited Code section requires a landlord seeking to recover a stabilized apartment for personal use to offer an elderly or disabled tenant “lawfully occupying” the unit “an equivalent or superior housing accommodation at the same or lower regulated rent in a closely proximate area.” As the motion court properly recognized, the landlords’ offer to the elderly tenant of any number of unregulated “market” apartments did not satisfy their statutory obligation to offer tenant “an equivalent or superior housing accommodation at the same or lower regulated rent” (emphasis added) (Code § 2524.4(a)(2); see Rent Stabilization Law [Administrative Code of City of NY] §26-511[c][9][b] [“same or lower stabilized rent”), a requirement which plainly presupposes that the proposed alternative housing unit itself be covered by rent stabilization.
Eviction Rules Fluctuate
Eviction rules fluctuate between the counties of New York State. There has been an increasingly high volume of calls from landlords who live in one county but have rental properties in another county. This causes issues where the landlord has one understanding of the eviction procedure for where he lives, but that procedure differs significantly from the procedure in the county in which their rental property is located. These differences run along a wide variety of topics including whether or not the landlord should be present as the sheriff or marshal executes a warrant of eviction. Not knowing the rules for the county in which you are planning on litigating in, can lead to penalties that range from fines to jail time. It is always advisable to speak with an attorney before commencing legal action. As always, feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns involving evictions in your county at (516) 858-2620!
Long Island Landlord Tenant Attorneys
We proudly assist residents of Long Island: Nassau county, Suffolk county, New York City: Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Island, and Manhattan with their landlord tenant matters. Call (516) 858-2620 to arrange a FREE consultation with a Landlord Tenant attorney!
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