Landlords Rally to Stop Proposed Rent Freeze
The city’s Rent Guidelines Board has proposed the freeze, or zero-percent allowable rent increase, and is set to vote on the controversial measure next week.
The move comes after Bill de Blasio, who made a name for himself as a champion for tenant rights, was elected Mayor.
Meanwhile, landlords, represented by the Rent Stabilization Association, are putting efforts into an ad campaign in an attempt to garner public opposition to the freeze.
These ads have met with ridicule by sources like Curbed NY, which ran a piece mocking the Association’s claim that landlords need more money to put back into maintenance of buildings.
However, an editorial in the Daily News blasts the rent-freeze plan for being bad on the economy.
Landlords are concerned that the perceived need for a rent freeze is viewed only through the eyes of tenants who are struggling to afford rent on their current income. But nothing is being done to stop increased costs of maintaining rental properties, including tax increases. A rent freeze means landlords alone are being asked to shoulder a financial burden caused in large part by the recent recession.
All of that raises fears that the condition of aging buildings will continue to deteriorate, which along with the lack of profitability of rentals, will only reduce rental stock, making it impossible for anyone to find affordable housing.
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