Albany, NY – Assemblyman Dinowitz (D-Bronx) announced that the Assembly passed a bill that he co-sponsored to strengthen New York’s rent-regulation laws and improve New Yorkers’ access to affordable housing (A.7526). The bill extends current law – while enhancing protections for tenants in rent-regulated units – until June 15, 2019.

Assemblyman Dinowitz said, “I am exceedingly pleased that my Assembly colleagues and I have passed A.7526, which would fortify our state’s tenant protection laws. This bill extends existing protections and closes numerous loopholes that have made rent unaffordable for far too many tenants. A.7526 places a cap on MCI increases, reduces vacancy lease increases, increases penalties for landlords who harass or neglect their tenants, and protects more rent-stabilized apartments from becoming decontrolled. These changes will make a big difference in the lives of millions of New Yorkers who rely on these rent laws to remain in their homes.”

In an effort to keep rents from skyrocketing, the Assembly’s legislation caps how much a landlord can increase rents on apartments that become vacant at 7.5 percent, down from 20 percent.

Moreover, landlords will often make improvements to individual units, such as installing new appliances, or for the building as a whole, such as a new boiler. After an improvement is made, the landlord is permitted to add a percentage of the total cost of the work to a tenant’s rent. However, tenants are forced to continue paying for these improvements long after the costs have been recovered. Further, under current law, a landlord can simply claim that they made an improvement without ever having to prove the fact. The Assembly’s bill makes rent increases for improvements temporary, requiring landlords to remove rent increases after their original investment has been recouped.

One of the legislation’s most important provisions will keep rents at an affordable level even if a current tenant moves. The bill would prevent apartments with monthly rents upward of $2,500 from becoming decontrolled upon vacancy, a threshold that has caused instances where a landlord has harassed a tenant or withheld services to force a tenant to vacate, noted Assemblyman Dinowitz.

Also, a landlord who harasses a tenant in order to get them to vacate a rent-regulated unit will face harsher punishments. The legislation adds a Class A misdemeanor crime of second-degree harassment of a rent-regulated tenant when a landlord intentionally impairs a unit’s habitability or creates a dangerous environment, and expands civil penalties for tenant harassment.

New York City has approximately one million rent-regulated households; of these, more than one in four rental households spend over half their household’s income on rent. In the Bronx, 57.6 percent of residents face costs above the affordability threshold, the highest in the state.

“New York City’s neighborhoods were built by working families and today’s senior citizens. However, skyrocketing rents are threatening to price these families out of their homes,” said Assemblyman Dinowitz. “We need to strengthen and enhance our rent laws so New York City remains a place that all families can call home – not just the wealthiest 1 percent. Affordable housing is essential to the economic prosperity of our communities. This legislation focuses on protecting New Yorkers to ensure they have access to safe, affordable housing.”