The New York State Assembly will consider many issues this legislative session, but few are of greater importance to New York City residents than the tenant protection laws that are due to expire on June 15th. These laws regulate over a million rent-stabilized and rent-controlled apartments in the City, protecting millions of residents from large rent increases and guaranteeing their right to a lease renewal. Strong rent laws must be at the center of any efforts to ensure that middle class and working people can afford to stay in the City so that New York doesn’t become a city only for the very wealthy and the very poor.

Even under the current rent laws, landlords can raise rents by huge amounts. Installing a new boiler or renovating a recently vacated apartment allows a landlord to charge tenants Major Capital Improvement (MCI) or Individual Apartment Improvement (IAI) rent increases, even if the existing infrastructure was intact and fully functional. These increases do not vanish once the landlord’s investment has been recouped. They remain forever, giving the landlord huge windfall profits. While a rent-stabilized tenant’s rent can only increase by a certain percentage each year, set by the Rent Guidelines Board, a new renter will see an apartment’s rent jump by 20% from what the former resident paid. These massive vacancy increases give unscrupulous landlords an incentive to encourage apartment turnover through harassment and other illegal means. Tenants cannot contest unlawful rent increases that occurred more than four years ago, allowing landlords to profit from illegal increases permanently if their actions are not detected in time. And rent-stabilized apartments can become fully deregulated if the legal rent rises above $2,500. As a result of these provisions and others, many tenants in rent-stabilized apartments still face unaffordable rents.

Last session, the Legislature took a big step to help keep rents affordable for many by expanding eligibility for the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) and Disability Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE) – collectively called the NYC Rent Freeze Program – when we raised the maximum allowable annual household income to $50,000. My office helps large numbers of constituents apply for this program, successfully freezing their rent. However, according to the Department of Finance, many more households could be benefiting, particularly here in the Northwest Bronx. If your household income is below $50,000, and you pay more than one-third of your income in rent, and you are 62 or older or receive federal disability benefits, and you live in rent regulated or Mitchell-Lama housing, I encourage you to contact my office to find out if you are eligible for a rent freeze. If you are, we will help you apply.

More needs to be done. We should make MCI and IAI increases temporary, allowing landlords to recoup their investment but not profit indefinitely from it. We should eliminate the 20% vacancy allowance on apartments. I am the author of A.1795, which would prevent landlords from increasing rent if a tenant installs appliances such as air conditioners or drying machines. Currently, if you purchase and install an air conditioner, the landlord can add a surcharge to your rent, even if you pay your own electric bill. That’s just outrageous.

I am heartened that Mayor de Blasio recognizes the importance of making New York City affordable for residents of all income levels. Central to resolving this city’s housing challenges are our tenant protection laws, which help keep millions of New Yorkers in their homes. Yet these laws contain provisions and exemptions that cause housing costs to continue to rise for far too many New Yorkers. We must not only renew, but strengthen these laws and make sure that state initiatives such as SCRIE and DRIE remain in place permanently. Everybody talks about the importance of affordable housing. Strengthening our state’s tenant protection laws is where we must start.