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Judge Upholds One-Year Rent Freeze
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Mar 29, 2017
Modified Mar 29, 2017
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Mar 29, 2017
Modified Mar 29, 2017
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A Manhattan judge upheld a one-year rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments yesterday. The judge tossed a lawsuit that landlords had filed against the Rent Guidelines Board; the landlords claimed the city wrongly considered tenants' economic situations, and not theirs, when ordering the freeze.
In both 2015 and 2016, NYC's Rent Guidelines Board ordered a rent freeze on the city’s one million rent-stabilized apartments. But the Rent Stabilization Association, comprised of 25,000 landlords, filed a suit against the RGB, arguing that the law requires the board to consider economic factors affecting landlords and not tenants when ordering an increase or freeze.
Had the court ruled to reverse the freeze, any lease signed after October 2016 would have been in jeopardy. Luckily for tenants, yesterday Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Debra James ruled in their favor, citing a 2011 decision allowing the RGB to "consider tenants’ economic situations" when making decisions about stabilized rents.
Mayor Bill de Blasio heralded the judge's ruling. "Working people have beaten the landlord lobby," he said in a statement. "Despite attempts to overturn the recent rent freeze, a court has ruled the Rent Guidelines Board was correct in its decision."
The Rent Stabilization Association plans to appeal. "The ruling is tantamount to giving Mayor Bill de Blasio carte blanche to making independent boards—like the Rent Guidelines Board- his personal playground to advance his political agenda," RSA president Joseph Strasburg said in a statement. But the city says it won't give up. "We have put shovels in the ground for more affordable housing and we’re investing in universal access to free legal services for tenants fighting eviction," de Blasio said. "We have more work to do, but together we are turning the tide."
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Rebecca Fishbein
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