New layer of protections to safeguard about 1 million rent stabilized apartments in the city, with a majority of them in the Bronx, have now been hammered out after the State Legislature announced reforms to the state’s existing rent laws. The measure is now headed to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s desk, who announced he will “sign it.”

The measures aim to prevent de-regulation of rent stabilized apartments, which are much more affordably priced than market rate apartments priced beyond $2700. Deregulation has long been blamed for aggressive displacement of low-income tenants, a problem that’s very familiar for the Bronx, which is experiencing massive change. Over the last few decades, tactics have been employed by landlords that, whether intentional or not, have caused many low-income tenants to leave New York City while making apartments across the city less affordable.

“This will strengthen the Bronx. The Bronx has the highest number of rent stabilized units in the city, and were in danger of losing these stabilized units, which are critical to the Bronx because it’s what keeps low- and middle-income people in place,” Sally Dunford, executive director of West Bronx Housing, a housing rights group, said. “So this will slow down gentrification. It won’t eliminate it. But it will certainly slow down gentrification. That is not a bad thing because it means fewer people will get hurt.”

The list of rent law changes with greatest impact on the Bronx include:

Rent Laws in Perpetuity: Keeping rent regulation laws permanent without having to revisit them every four to eight years as has been the case for decades. The move to re-visit the rent laws will now take an act from the State Legislature.           

Rent-Regulation Stock: It used to be that a rent-regulated apartment will be deregulated after it hits a certain financial threshold. Now, even if an apartment goes beyond that threshold (usually $2700) it will still remain in the rent-regulated system. Deregulation led to roughly 300,000 units removed from the rent-regulation stock, creating the affordability crisis so many low-income tenants and housing groups have blasted.

Vacancy Bonus & Longevity Bonus Repeal: Abolishes vacancy bonus provision that allows landlords to raise rent as high as 20 percent each time a unit becomes vacant while stopping the Rent Guidelines Board from reinstating vacancy bonuses on its own. The vacancy bonus was blamed for incentivizing landlords to deregulate the apartment at a faster rate.

Preferential Rents: Mandates landlords keep preferential rent, which is the rent that falls below the considerably higher legal regulated rent, permanent even after lease renewal. Landlords would impose a legal rent upon lease renewal, which made it very difficult for families to afford. The bill also stops landlords from instituting the legal rent on a brand new tenant should a former tenant leave their apartment.

“That’s really quite good. What it means they’ll be fewer preferential rents, which is going to be hard for people in the beginning, but it will keep people from moving in and being astonished when their rent jumps by a huge amount,” said Dunford.

Rent Review Expanded: Gives tenants more time to see if the rent they’re paying is actually what they’re supposed to pay. It used to be tenants only had four years to see if they had a rent overcharge, now it’s six or more years. For years tenants would have a rent overcharge and not be aware of it until they saw their rent history form they receive from the state Department of Housing and Community Renewal, which keeps the rent histories on file.

“It’s certainly an improvement,” said Dunford, who had preferred they be removed altogether.

Greater Oversight of DHCR:  Mandates that the state Department of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) submit a report each year outlining how it’s ensuring the rent regulation system is being protected. The report is supposed to point out how many rent stabilized units are in each county, applications and approval for MCIs, units with preferential rents, rents charged, and overcharge complaints. Dunford praised the reform, saying that overcharge complaints were barely resolved in a timely manner, a move she said is caused by lack of manpower at DHCR.

“So, for example, if you got a rent overcharge and you file it with the state it can take the state a year to make a decision on it or even longer. And that’s been really problematic because in the meantime somebody could get evicted and then turn out they were right [on being charged rent and not wanting to pay for it] all along. This will hopefully mitigate that to some extent,” said Dunford.   

Security Deposits: Caps security deposits to one month’s rent instead both first and last month’s rent and clearly outlines procedures to make sure a tenant get their security deposits back in a reasonable amount of time.

Eviction Protections: Ensures tenants are not harassed or retaliated against if facing an eviction. It also creates a crime of unlawful protection, where a landlord illegally locks out or uses force to evict a tenant. That’s now punishable by a civil penalty that carries a fine of upwards of $10,000. New provisions ensure renters have greater time to get a lawyer, while even granting judges a right to put a stay on an eviction for upwards of a year.

Notices: Mandates landlords offer notice to tenants if they intend to increase the rent more than five percent or do not intend to renew the tenants’ lease.

But advocates didn’t get everything they had hoped for. Off the table was the complete removal of Major Capital Improvements (MCIs), a tactic where landlords pass on the renovation-related costs to tenants for however long the tenant is in their apartment, a move that creates a financial burden for low-income tenants forced to pay more money towards their housing. MCIs remain but landlords will only be able to tact a two percent rent increase instead of the current six percent.

“I would’ve like to see them removed altogether,” Dunford said, adding that she’ll hosts workshops in the fall educating tenants on the new rent laws.

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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.