Tenant advocates and elected officials gathered at City Hall last year to urge the Rent Guidelines Board to vote for a rent freeze. (Flickr/West Side Neighborhood Alliance)By Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — More than a quarter-million rent-regulated tenants may receive refunds following a court ruling Tuesday that found the city illegally hiked rents for lower-income residents.
The court's decision upheld an earlier ruling that the Rent Guidelines Board illegally imposed supplemental rent increases in 2008 and 2009 for rent-stabilized tenants who lived in apartments for more than six years and paid less than $1,000 a month.
The supplemental increase forced those tenants to pay an additional $45 for one-year leases and $85 for two-year leases and was called a "poor tax" by its opponents.
The ruling means that up to 300,000 tenants who signed renewal leases could receive refunds totaling $100 million, the Daily News reported.
“The creation of this ‘poor tax’ was a direct attack by the Rent Guidelines Board on low-income tenants — the very New Yorkers hit hardest by the economic downturn,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn in a statement lauding the court decision.
The RGB will seek to appeal the ruling, which stated the board can’t institute a supplemental increase based on a tenant’s longevity, said RGB Executive Director Andrew McLaughlin.
The board will determine this year’s increases Thursday after voting last month for rent hikes of 2 to 4 percent for one-year leases and 4 to 6 percent for two-year leases.
Affordable housing advocates have been urging a rent freeze given the current economic situation and high unemployment rates.
Thursday's final vote will take place from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Cooper Union's Great Hall, 7 East 7th St., in the East Village.
Comments comment