Albany's Damage to Tenants & Affordable Housing

Sifting through the Albany Damage to Tenants and Affordable Housing

Today, the New York State government passed legislation that will hurt New York City tenants and further erode affordable housing throughout the city.

Tenants came together and worked hard, alongside many allied legislators and organizations to close loopholes in the Rent Laws that lead to the loss of thousands of affordable apartments each year and allow landlords to drive out long-term tenants. The tenant movement set its sights on making 2015 the ‘Year of the Tenant,’ the year to strengthen protections for tenants and affordable housing.<

Instead, as the Albany session draws to a close, the final ‘Big Ugly’ legislation (S.6012-2015 & A.8323-2015) will let thousands of apartments lose their rent-regulated status in the next four years through loopholes. And once again, continue to put families’ affordable housing and livelihood at risk.

The tenant movement had reason to be optimistic. The Albany political-game was shaken up by this year’s scandals that brought about the arrest of the former leaders of the Assembly and the Senate. Despite both indictments being driven by real estate industry donations, illegal payments, or benefits to elected officials, the usual well-financed power dynamics that put the interest of the real estate industry ahead of the public, played out once again.

In spite of the excellent grassroots campaign by united community groups and tenants from across the city – our neighborhoods and our City will not see the necessary changes to stop the massive loss of rent regulated units and truly preserve affordable apartments and our neighborhood fabric

• The Vacancy Decontrol threshold should have been repealed. Instead, the threshold was raised to $2,700, a $200 increase that will have only the most minimal impact on the decontrol crisis. The threshold was indexed to annual Rent Guidelines Board rent increases, but the impact here will also be minimal.
• The Major Capital Increase program should have been made a temporary surcharge. Instead, the formula was only extended modestly by changing the 86 month amortization period to 96 months for buildings with less than 35 units and to 108 months for buildings with more than 35 units.
• The Individual Apartment Increase program that is the cause of dramatic in irreversible rent increases in so many vacant apartments, and motivates so much harassment and investor speculation, should have been overhauled. Instead, the program remains unchanged.
• The Preferential Rent loophole should have been shut. Instead, a complicated formula was created that reduces the allowable rent increase in some cases, but not enough to make meaningful difference in the problem. And the formula, which allows higher rent increases on longer tenancies, may further encourage landlords bad practice of harassing out building’s longest-standing tenants.

This year, the 421a Developer’s Tax Break was publically exposed as an expensive and inefficient boondoggle that should have been ended. The outcome is another big win for real estate, and at best, mixed results for neighborhoods.

While there were improvements over the previous 421a Tax Break, it will continue to be an costly program for the City, a big giveaway to real estate, and not meet the real affordability needs of many neighborhoods. Some affordability requirements will finally be required citywide, a long-overdue stipulation. But what neighborhoods will get, and whether it will help stabilize neighborhoods and create units that are truly affordable to local residents will vary widely. And the depth of affordability created in 421a buildings will be at the developers’ discretion, placing communities affordability needs in the hands of real estate and not in the hands of the communities impacted and being displaced. A full analysis on the details of 421a plan will follow in the coming days.

ANHD, and the entire affordable housing movement had hoped to come out of the Albany legislative session with some measure of relief for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers. Despite this 2015 session, we will redouble our efforts to prevent displacement, protect tenants rights, and secure the truly affordable housing our communities’ need. These are our homes, our neighborhoods, and our city and will continue the fight to make sure that New York City’s neighborhoods continue to be places all of our residents can call home.

For more information contact Barika Williams at ANHD.

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