Tenants are breathing a sigh of relief after the city’s Rent Guidelines Board voted last night for the smallest rent hikes in a decade on more than 1 million rent-stabilized apartments.
The nine-member board approved 2 and 4 percent hikes for one- and two-year leases, respectively, over the grumbling of landlords and their representatives. The last time increases were that low was in 2002.
Last year, tenants were hit with 3.75 and 7.25 percent hikes for one- and two-year leases when the board determined that landlords faced higher operating costs.
Landlords have been arguing for years that steeper increases are necessary to keep up with expenses, especially higher property taxes and water and sewer charges imposed by the city.
This year, renters’ cries that the increases were unfair and unaffordable won out. Landlords won a small victory, however, in getting the board to approve $20 (one-year) and $40 (two-year) minimum increases, which affect renters paying less than $1,000.
Tenant advocate Sam Stein said the increases were “bittersweet.”
“Two and 4 percent is probably the best we could expect,” Stein said, before calling the $20 and $40 minimums a “regressive tax” that hurts the poorest tenants paying the lowest rents.
The hikes will be negligible for landlords, said Joseph Strasburg of the Rent Stabilization Association, which represents 25,000 building owners.
The median rent in the city — about $1,100 — would mean about $260 extra a year for many landlords. Strasburg argued that increase would be quickly erased if repairs are needed.
“How much is sending in a plumber to fix something? One visit wipes it out,” Strasburg said.
Of the nine board members, all of whom are appointed by the mayor, two represent tenants, two represent landlords and five represent the “public.”
The landlord reps on the board pushed for 5 and 9 percent increases, and the tenant reps pushed for a rent freeze. Both proposals were voted down before the compromise was approved.
One landlord representative on the board, Steve Schleider, who was drowned out by the crowd as he spoke, said property taxes and rent-stabilization laws are a “constant stream of unfunded public-policy mandates.”
Tenant advocate Adriene Holder argued for a rent freeze, pointing to a new report by the Community Service Society advocacy group showing that low-income renters are forking over as much as half their monthly salaries.
In response to both sides the board’s chairman, Jonathan Kimmel, said, “This board doesn’t have the power to cure all the ills of the system.”