It looks like a million rent-stabilized tenants are about to catch a break.
The Rent Guidelines Board last night recommended preliminary rent hikes ranging from 2 to 4 percent for one-year leases and 4 to 6 percent for two-year leases signed on or after Oct. 1 for rent-stabilized apartments.
The vote was 5-4, with the five public members forming the majority, while tenant and landlord representatives voting no for separate reasons.
Only about 75 people attended the meeting at Cooper Union, and the heckling that has become standard at rent-board sessions was subdued.
The final increase will be voted on next month.
Tenants and landlords alike anticipated the eventual increase would come in below the 3 and 6 percent raises granted last year.
“Unfortunately, it looks like we’re headed towards another very low single-digit increase in rents at the very time property owners are facing double-digit increases in property taxes and water rates,” said Jack Freund, of the Rent Stabilization Association, which represents 25,000 landlords.
Tenant advocates pointed out that landlords’ operating costs jumped just 3.4 percent, the lowest in eight years. They also maintained that landlord profits held steady through the recession as tenants’ incomes shriveled — reason enough for a rent freeze that has never been granted in the 40 years of stabilization.
Maggie Russell-Ciardi, executive director of Tenants & Neighbors, a leading tenant group, said most of the landlords who can’t make ends meet have only themselves to blame.
“The majority of landlords who are hurting are landlords that intentionally overleveraged their properties with the intention of flipping them,” she said.
Meanwhile, tenants are lobbying Albany to repeal the regulation that permits landlords to deregulate rents once an apartment reaches $2,000 a month.