Assemblymember Pichardo: Sweeping housing reform is a huge victory for Bronx tenants
Assemblymember Victor M. Pichardo (D-Bronx) announced that he co-sponsored and helped pass legislation to protect Bronx tenants from unfair landlord practices and safeguard affordable housing (A.8281). The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act is the strongest rent regulation legislation ever passed in New York State. Pichardo noted that the laws will be permanent so tenants aren’t left in limbo every few years.
“For too long, Bronx families have been at the mercy of landlords and a system that knocked them down and left them voiceless,” said Pichardo. “But today, we’re giving them their voice back. We stood tall to help ensure fewer families are forced to live in unsafe conditions for fear of landlord retaliation or pushed out of their home because of sky-high rent increases, and we won.”
Pichardo noted that one of the most important and impacful measures in the legislation is the elimination of the vacancy bonus, which allows landlords of rent-regulated units to raise the rent by up to 20% after a tenant leaves. It also prevents the NYC Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) from creating similar bonuses, bars RGBs from setting higher rent increases for certain apartments and limits rent-controlled rent increases to 7.5% or the average of the past five increases, whichever is lower. Pichardo has been vocal about the need for vacancy bonus reform and pushed for its inclusion in the legislation.
Additionally, the legislation eliminates the vacancy deregulation provision, which currently allows a landlord to remove an apartment from rent stabilization if it becomes vacant and the monthly rent exceeds $2,774.76. The provision was enacted in 1994 and caused more than 160,000 apartments to lose their rent-protected status due to vacancy decontrol.[1]
“The vacancy bonus is nothing more than an unfair loophole that allows landlords to take advantage of renters,” said Pichardo. “It encourages landlords to push out tenants in order to raise rent quickly so it becomes deregulated. Eliminating the vacancy bonus will keep affordable housing efforts on the right track – it’s a great victory for the Bronx.”
The bill makes the rent stabilization and rent control regulations that were set to expire on June 15 permanent.
Additionally, it:
- prohibits landlords of rent-regulated apartments from discontinuing preferential rent for a current tenant;
- requires landlords make a good faith effort to re-rent a unit after a tenant breaks the lease;
- keeps landlords from blacklisting prospective tenants by preventing them from using a database of court information;
- limits the amount of a security deposit to be equal to one month’s rent and requires any deposit to be refundable;
- prohibits retaliatory eviction against tenants in buildings with four units or more who make a good faith complaint alleging uninhabitable conditions; and
- limits background check fees to $20 and prohibits lease application fees.
To ensure tenants aren’t blindsided, the tenant protections also require landlords provide 30 days’ notice for a tenant of one year or less, 60 days’ notice for a tenant of one to two years and 90 days’ notice for a tenant of two or more years when refusing to renew a lease.
The legislation also helps prevent abuse of the major capital improvement (MCI) program by capping MCI rent increases at 2% and extends the period over which the rent increases are paid in order to reduce the burden on tenants. It also clarifies the types of projects that qualify as MCIs and directs the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) to audit and inspect 25% of approved MCIs annually. The bill also extends the period over which the individual apartment improvement (IAI) program rent increases are paid, prevents owners from performing more than three IAIs – capped at a total of $15,000 – over 15 years and directs DHCR to audit and inspect 10% of IAIs annually.
To better protect rent-stabilized tenants, the bill eliminates the statute of limitations for tenants to file overcharge complaints and extends the recovery of overcharge penalties to six years. It also requires landlords pay three times the amount owed if the overcharges were intentional.
Additionally, the bill protects New Yorkers living in condominiums and co-ops by halting eviction plans that allow non-purchasing tenants to be evicted, and giving these tenants more time to find a new home.
The legislation would also:
- limit landlord recovery of rent-regulated apartments for personal use to one unit and allow tenants to pursue legal action if the landlord’s claim is fraudulent;
- provide individuals housed by nonprofits with tenant status;
- increase the annual fee to register a rent-regulated unit from $10 to $20, and dedicate that increase in revenue to DHCR’s Office of Rent Administration (ORA) and Tenant Protection Unit (TPU); and
- require DHCR to conduct annual and publicly available reports on the implementation of these regulations.
“Every New Yorker deserves a roof over their head that doesn’t leave them penniless,” said Pichardo. “This legislation will help fulfill that promise.”
Assemblymember Victor M. Pichardo on the Jury's Verdict in the Lesandro Junior Guzman-Feliz Trial
“Justice has been served to the five men who robbed the world of a bright and upstanding young man. I want to thank the District Attorney Darcel Clark for her leadership in this trial, and in making sure that Junior’s murderers were apprehended and convicted.” said Assemblymember Victor Pichardo. “The gang violence culture deemed it acceptable to slaughter a young kid. This grizzly and barbaric violence that was inflicted on another human being is unacceptable and we need to make sure we do more to end this violence through holistic and aggressive ways.”
EDITOR'S NOTE:
Assemblyman Pichardo fails to remember the recent legislation passed by the state legislature which Assemblyman Pichardo was supporting, regarding 16 - 19 year olds.
We would not be surprised to see the lawyers for these young men ask for a new trial under the new law passed by the state legislature where they may be released without bail, and receive just a slap on the wrist.
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