Good Cause Eviction, RS updates, and good old Kingston, NY
Good Cause Eviction, RS updates, and good old Kingston, NY
Supreme Court of NY judge rules that rent stabilization is okay, but rent reductions are not
Judge Gandin ruled that the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) lacked the authority to reduce rents in Kingston NY this past fall. Rents on about ~1,000 properties in Kingston will not be lowered.
The judge also decided that the court wouldn’t address the controversy around the vacancy survey. The survey was used as a launchpad to declare a housing emergency which then allowed for rent stabilization to pass. This means rent stabilization will continue in Kingston. Does that leave the door open for an appeal by owners?
Good Cause Eviction: what’s the sentiment out there?
Tenant advocates are galvanized:
“It’s going to come down to us organizing really hard the next couple of months and making sure that it‘s clear that any housing proposal without good cause is unacceptable to tenant advocates,” - Brahvan Ranga, from For The Many, a tenant rights group.
Politicians leave room for interpretation of their positions:
“I think any comprehensive package talks about not only creating new housing, but keeping people in the housing they already have.” – NY Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
Some property owners are optimistic:
“We’re confident that common sense will prevail as lawmakers realize that Good Cause Eviction is an ideologically driven pursuit by far-left socialists that does nothing to address the housing supply shortage and would, in fact, make finding an apartment more difficult and impossibly expensive for new renters,” - Homeowners for an Affordable NY’s Greg Drilling said.
Other owners are in disbelief:
“I don’t think I want to be part of some socialist experiment. This would fundamentally change property rights…They can’t just overnight change everything to socialist housing,” - Ann Korchak, President of Small Property Owner of New York (SPONY).
Fast facts on rent stabilization (RS) in NYC post 2019 rent laws
Big changes in MCIs
The number of Major Capital Improvement (MCI) applications filed with DHCR in 2019-20 was 835. It dropped down to just 285 applications in 2021-22. That’s a 66% decline!
Rents have plateaued
Avg. increases in RS rents in NYC with a vacancy lease & preferential rent was $341 (11%) in 2019-20. In 2021-22, that number shrunk down to just $8 (0%).
Median rents for RS apartments are unchanged:
Half of RS apartments in NYC in 2021-22 were still rented for under $1509.
Sources: City and State NY, GlobeST.com, and 2022 HCR Annual Report ORA