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Rent-Stabilized Tenants Could See Rate Freeze for Lease Renewals

By Amy Zimmer | April 30, 2015 9:38am | Updated on May 1, 2015 6:07pm
 A tenant at the June 2014 Rent Guidelines Board vote on increases for rent stabilized apartments at Cooper Union. Tenants are pushing for a rent freeze again this year.
A tenant at the June 2014 Rent Guidelines Board vote on increases for rent stabilized apartments at Cooper Union. Tenants are pushing for a rent freeze again this year.
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DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg

MANHATTAN — Tenants in nearly a million rent-stabilized apartments in the five boroughs could see a rent freeze in the near future, according to a preliminary vote Wednesday night by the Rent Guidelines Board.

The board proposed to raise one-year leases by 0 to 2 percent and two-year leases by 0.5 to 3.5 percent, according to reports. The board will determine the final increases, if any, in a vote set to take place on June 24.

Many tenants had advocated for a rent rollback. Though such a move would have been unprecedented, it seemed plausible because of the 21-percent decline in heating-oil and gas prices that helped offset other operating expenses for landlords in the last year, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The board's two tenant members called for one-year leases either frozen or rolled back by 4 percent and two-year leases either frozen or rolled back by 2 percent, reports said.  

Landlords, on the other hand, said they need rent increases to keep their buildings financially viable. They urged the board to pass 4.2 percent increases for one-year leases and 6.75 percent for two-year leases.

Operating costs for rent-stabilized buildings increased by 0.5 percent last year, according to a report issued by the Rent Guidelines Board, which projected that costs will rise 4.2 percent over the next year.

The board also found that the median rent for these regulated units is $1,200 a month and household income is $40,600 a year.

The Rent Guidelines Board last year approved a 1 percent increase for one-year leases and a 2.75 increase for two-year leases, which were the smallest hikes in the board's history.

The ranges of rent increases the board considered after last year's preliminary vote were higher than this year's, prompting tenants advocates to be hopeful that this year's increases will be lower or non-existent.

This is also the first year all nine members serving on the board are appointees of Mayor Bill De Blasio, who campaigned for rent freezes and pushed unsuccessfully for such a freeze last year.

The board will host a series of public meetings to discuss the preliminary vote and will then make its final decision on June 24 at Cooper Union's Great Hall.

The new rates are for leases renewed on or after Oct. 1.