Assemblymember Victor M. Pichardo (D-Bronx) announced that a bill he authored that repeals a landlord’s ability to obtain a large increase in rent after a rent-regulated apartment becomes vacant has passed the Assembly Committee on Housing, bringing it closer to being voted into law (A.9815).
“Families here in the Bronx know how difficult it is to find safe, affordable housing,” said Pichardo. “As homelessness continues to rise, forcing more New Yorkers to shuffle from shelter to shelter, we need to be doing more to create and maintain affordable housing and protect tenants. This legislation is vital to making that a reality.”
Under current law, landlords are eligible for a statutory vacancy bonus once a year, allowing them to raise the rent as much as 20 percent when a rent-regulated unit goes vacant. Not only can this lead to an apartment’s rent increasing quickly and becoming deregulated, it also encourages some unscrupulous landlords to ignore dangerous living conditions as well as harass tenants to push them out, noted Pichardo. Landlords are eligible for the vacancy bonus even if the tenant leaves because of uninhabitable conditions. By repealing the vacancy bonus, Pichardo’s legislation protects existing affordable housing and helps deter landlords from pushing tenants out.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
While we applaud Assemblyman Pichardo on getting this passed in the Assembly, this must also pass the State Senate, and then be signed by the Governor.
Assemblyman Pichardo also forgets that rents can be raised in rent regulated buildings if new equipment is placed into an apartment upon becoming vacant, or is an improvement to an apartment or to the building.
