New York City is known to be a relatively expensive place to live in. The need for people to be able to afford a safe and clean place to live is important yet this seems to be hard to do for some. The current landlord and tenant laws that govern rent prices are not only old, having been in place for 45 years, but they give substantial power to landlords and seem to leave tenants without a lot of options at times.
As reported by City Limits, the current law does offer some level of protection for rent stabilization but only in a small geographical area. For three counties outside New York City and for the five boroughs within the city limits, rent control is in effect for buildings erected prior to the date that the law went into effect – 1974. There have certainly been additional buildings erected since then plus there are numerous people who live outside these areas. This law is set to expire in June of this year.
A new bill introduced into the State Assembly, A2351, would eliminate the ability for a landlord to raise the rent on a unit after it had been vacant. In addition to this, many people are pushing to enact a universal rent control law that would have jurisdiction throughout the state instead of in only a small geographical area.
The Governor has apparently voiced support for laws that provide more protection to renters but it is unclear exactly what that may look like.
