Low-Income Housing Developer Group Advocates for Rent Regulation Reforms

For the first time, a group of low-income housing developers is teaming up with low-income tenant activists to push for rent regulation reforms. The New York State Association for Affordable Housing, along with groups that include the Legal Aid Society, VOCAL New York, Enterprise Community Partners, AARP, the Coalition for the Homeless, and the New York Housing Conference recently sent letters to state leaders urging specific pro-tenant changes when the rent laws expire in June.

The groups are advocating the end of luxury vacancy decontrol that allows owners to bring an apartment out of the rent regulation system when it becomes vacant and the monthly rents rise past $2,733. The groups are also seeking to revoke owners’ ability to offer lower, preferential rents to tenants and then revoke the preferential rent upon lease renewal.

The groups, who are often on opposite sides on housing issues, sent the joint letter to Gov. Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx), and Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers), who is set to become Senate majority leader in January.