Photo by Adi Talwar
A Bronx tenant’s advocacy group claims landlords may be skirting the rules by not showing rent-stabilized tenants rent registration forms. They’re also claiming the state agency tasked to track these rent histories fails to thoroughly double check whether a landlord’s rent increase on a tenant is justifiable.
West Bronx Housing, headquartered in Bedford Park, has since been collecting these statements to pick up patterns while enlisting the help of elected officials. The group has now zeroed in on an apartment building in Riverdale, where rent histories are suspect. They’re now requesting these forms to tenants living in Norwood and Bedford Park.
Sally Dunford, executive director of West Bronx Housing, has noticed an uptick in these suspect rent histories amid an affordable housing crisis that’s making living in New York City, including the Bronx, almost impossible for the working class.
“My guess is thousands of New Yorkers got cheated,” Sally Dunford, executive director of West Bronx Housing, said. “Because you just figure—we’re seeing two a week.”
For rent-regulated apartments, landlords must submit a rent registration form to the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), a state agency that tracks the rent history. A breakdown of how a new tenant’s rent is calculated is included on their lease rider, and must be given to existing tenants should they decide to renew their lease.
Rent registration forms, which lists the preferential and legal rents, must be given to tenants by April 1. Though not every time, Dunford suspects landlords sometimes report an inflated rent DHCR by sending the rent registration form directly to the agency and not to an existing tenant, making them unaware of what the landlord has reported to DHCR. The burden of an inflated rent would fall on a new tenant who moves into the apartment, according to Dunford. On top of the increased rent, new tenants can also 20 percent more in rent, a legal move for landlords.
By not sending rent registration forms to tenants, Dunford suspects that some shifty landlords can exploit that and charge a rent-subsidized tenant the legal rent, which is substantially higher than the preferential rent. In leases and lease renewals, owners must inform the tenant they are either paying a preferential or legal rent.
“Landlords are supposed to tell you, they’re supposed give you that information, they’re supposed to be attached to your lease, but there’s no verification attached to your lease,” Dunford said. “All they have to do is give you numbers that add up to what you’re now paying. If those numbers are bogus, how would you know?”
Many would know whether rent is legitimate via rent history forms that tenants with an active lease can request to DHCR. It’s only when they receive these forms can they know whether their rent is indeed legitimate and not grossly inflated.
Tenants can challenge the rent, by calling DHCR’s Office of Rent Administration or Tenant Protection Unit, a group that tracks patterns and practice of harassment or fraud by a landlord owning multiple buildings. Its Rent Registration Initiative has reclaimed more than 57,000 rent-regulated apartments, and recouped more than $3 million in overcharged rents for rent-regulated tenants. A spokesperson for DHCR stood by the agency’s protocols, explaining that the agency audits a landlord, double checking leases, rent receipts, cancelled checks, money order receipts, DHCR order(s), Major Capital Improvements, and Individual Apartment Improvements.
“If you file a complaint, it’s risky thing to do. If you lose your complaint, out of spite, the landlord can revert to the legally registered rent, and for sure you’re out of there,” Andrew Laiosa, a West Bronx Housing employee helping Dunford collate rent registration forms, said. He added that tenants can also just walk away, causing a vacancy, and allowing a landlord to legally increase a new tenant’s rent by 20 percent.
But should a tenant decide to challenge the rent, it sends them on a lumbering legal and bureaucratic maze. At that point, some tenants may be unable to pay the rent.
“If they don’t rule for a year, what are you going to do for a year?” Laiosa asked. “They need $1500 a month, per year.”
“And pray [DHCR] actually get[s] around to you before you run out of money,” Dunford said.
But even before that can happen, Dunford has found that many simply don’t want to request their rent history form fearing their landlord can opt to change their preferential rent to their legal rent upon lease renewal.
Editor’s Note: The number to DHCR’s Office of Rent Administration at (718) 739-6400. The story has been re-edited to clarify errors in its original report. The Norwood News regrets the error.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
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I’m afraid some of the things in this article are incorrect.
Landlords are NOT required to show tenants their apartment’s rent history
Landlords are required to complete and file a Rent Registration form with the NYS DHCR Rent Administration Office stating what the Legal Rent is on April 1 of each year and give a copy to the tenant. Tenants are supposed to be sent this form, so that they can verify that what the landlord is charging and what he has listed as the legal rent are correct.
Tenants do not always receive these Rent Registrations.
When a tenant moves into a Rent Stabilized Apartment, the landlord is suppose to provide the tenant with a Lease Rider stating what the last tenant was paying and showing how the landlord figured the rent on the lease.
This is also not only always happening,.
The actual Rent History is a document on file at the NYS DHCR’s Office of Rent Administration, and can be accessed only by the tenant and the owner.
But because tenants don’t receive the rent registrations, they may never know what the landlord has said he is charging.
What that means that the following can easily happen:
Tenant A has been paying $ 990.00 rent for the last 2 years. He never received a Rent Registration and so has no way of knowing that landlord has told DHCR that he is paying $1,400. rent. Tenant A moves out. Tenant B moves in. The new legal rent on the apartment is based on what the last tenant paid. Tenant B should be paying $990 + the legal rent increase + the vacancy rent increase(usually 20%). (In this case, the legal rent should be approximately $1,188) Instead the landlord says he needs to pay $1,400 + the legal rent increase + the vacancy rent increase (approx $1,680).
Then to further complicate things, the owner tells Tent B– “I’m going to do you a favor. I’m going to charge you a Preferential Rent of $ 1,200, which is less than the ‘legal rent’ ” Tenant B is happy and signs the lease. But that Preferential Rent is only good for that current lease. The landlord can go back to the $1,680 when its time to renew the lease. So Tenant B may not only be paying more rent that necessary, he is also less likely to complain about lack of repairs or lack of heat.
At West Bronx Housing and Neighborhood Resource Center, we have seen an increase in this scenario and so we are highly recommending that tenants request their rent histories. To get your Rent History call: 718-430-0880 or send an email requesting your Rent History to rentinfo@nyshcr.org. The Rent History will be mailed to your house. If you’re not sure what you’re looking, you can call us at 718-798-0929.