Apartment rentals New York with Rent Regulation

People will do crazy things to get their hands on a rent controlled apartment, from pretending to be someone’s relative to pretending their dead relative that owned the home is in fact, still alive and kicking. A book by Robert Fogelson entitled The Great Rent Wars: New York 1917-1929, explains the tumultuous story of the many attempts to fix a terrible housing situation before rent control. Enacted 70 years ago, the story of rent regulations started with a government that could care less about the issues happening with housing.

In a city with apartment buildings known for their dizzying heights and grandeur, walk-up apartment buildings in New York City have long had a lower, less glamorous profile. Walk-ups are buildings that have just five or six stories of apartments in them, and, as their name suggests, they do not have an elevator. Walk-up buildings reflect a style of construction of the early 20th century, and the flights of stairs to climb every day have been a deterrent for New Yorkers looking for an apartment to rent in the city. But that was in the past. With the trend of increasing rents sweeping through rental buildings in Manhattan, the apartments in these small walk-ups represent a gold mine for the landlords of such buildings. 

While the case between the Upper West Side landlord and his rent stabilized tenants sits in front of the Supreme Court pending further action, the Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog thought this would be a great opportunity to review the difference between the real estate mysteries that are rent control and rent stabilization. Rent control and rent stabilization, both of which fall under the category of rent regulation, refer to laws or ordinances that set price control on the renting of residential building. Historically, New York State has one of the longest history of rent regulation in the country and subsequently the vast majority of rent regulated units are located in New York City as well.