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Councilwoman Margaret Chin and Councilman Mark Gjonaj recently proposed legislation that would legalize hostels throughout New York City. Hostels offer communal lodgings often sought by younger travelers looking for a cheap place to stay. Lawmakers passed a law in 2010 aimed at illegal hotel rentals, but the regulations ended up restricting hostels as well. Hostels never fell under clear definitions in the city’s building codes; before the ban, they were subject to the same regulations as apartments. The changing regulatory landscape left a very limited number of hostels in the city.
A small apartment building in Greenwich Village recently sold, representing one of the first sales since new laws restricting rents were enacted. It provides an early indicator of the values of rent-stabilized buildings under new state rules. The five-story walk-up sold for $11.6 million, a 12 percent discount from the seller’s last asking price. Three of the building’s 13 units are rent stabilized.
The Blackstone Group, owner of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, Manhattan’s largest apartment complex, is halting apartment renovations and other planned work at Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village in response to the changes to the state’s rent-regulation laws passed by Albany legislators in June. The changes to the rent law include limits to rent increases owners can charge tenants to cover the costs of renovations and repairs. Blackstone purchased Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village for $5.5 billion in 2015.
Over the past few months, reports have emerged that ownership of single- and multi-family homes around New York City had been assigned to nonprofit organizations, to the surprise of the original owners. Reportedly, these owners were mostly middle-class, retired black residents who had paid off their mortgages and maintained their properties.
A judge has granted a motion allowing more than 100 East Harlem tenants to sue notorious landlord Steven Croman. The complaint, filed by law firm Newman Ferrara and the Housing Rights Initiative (HRI), alleges that Croman illegally leased rent-stabilized apartments in a Harlem building at market rates while receiving tax benefits from the state.
A recent report from Ariel Property Advisors found that New York City’s multifamily property market experienced a dramatic slowdown in the first half of 2019. Transaction volume slid to an eight-year low, according to preliminary numbers from the firm’s Multifamily Mid-Year In Review.
Attorney General Letitia James recently announced a lawsuit against a New York City property manager and his company for fraud, unjust enrichment, and repeatedly violating rent stabilization laws through manipulation of individual apartment improvements (IAIs). The manager worked for many years at a property management company that manages approximately 2,500 apartments throughout New York City.
Intro. 1423, a bill to limit the amount a renter could pay a broker for its services, was initially introduced in February. Specifically, the bill mandates that residential brokers would be “prevented from collecting fees from prospective tenants that are above the value of one month’s rent.”
The city’s Department of Investigation (DOI) found miscalculations that affected the official residential eviction totals for 2018, a spokesperson for the agency said, and the figures are likely to be revised upwards. The DOI discovered that two city marshals made errors while totaling their annual eviction figures and counted evictions for only three out of the 12 months.
In a preliminary vote on May 7, the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) recommended increasing rent for rent-stabilized apartment buildings. The board’s preliminary vote inside The Great Hall at Cooper Union in the East Village called for:
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