Rent Control Legislation In New York City

In short, lack of motivation in exchange for more red tape causes investors and landlords to move towards more profitable options. This movement of money and resources tends to negatively impact people trying to find a place to live, most notably the poor. The National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) states that prospective customers must pay finder fees to find a rental property due to a presumably growing scarcity of available housing. As if this were not bad enough, in some communities rental properties are handed down to friends and family, so they never quite leave the market. In order to obtain housing, new consumers are forced to pay “key money” and other fees. These costs tend to impact young, single, and poor families the most.

Rent control refers to laws that limit the amounts of rent and the amounts that rent can be increased in any year. There is no statewide rent control in the US, and all the rent control laws and regulation are passed by cities. Most of the cities with rent control are located in New York, California, and New Jersey. Washington, D.C. also has rent control.

The problem is there is inevitably a lack of housing, due to homelessness and influx of people. Without enough housing, the prices of the homes will be very expensive; however, if there is not a balanced mix of luxury and affordable housing, those already living there will be forced to leave because they will not be able to maintain taxes and other increases that will be tacked on to housing expenses. In order to make this process a bit more feasible, New York created the “Inclusionary Zoning program.” This program required “that developers set aside a certain percentage of units in a new development as affordable units.” The issue with this zoning ordinance is that although it was stated as a “requirement” the city kept it as a voluntary process.” With the ordinance being voluntary and developers with a capitalist mentality, many developers opted out of adhering to the ordinance. Although the residents of New York may not be in the power broker or decision-making classification, many of its inhabitants have been there for many years. Unless there are efforts to make this ordinance mandatory, there will be much opposition to keep new development out.

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is the “largest public housing authority in the nation” (Developments, 2015). In existence since 1934 (About NYCHA: NYCHA at 70, 2015), NYCHA is a low to moderate income public housing initiative consisting of 328 developments throughout all five boroughs of New York City. More than 400,000 residents benefit from these developments through the receipt of not only apartments but additional services provided by each development and New York City overall. Over recent years the NYCHA developments have been experiencing a reduction in government funding, forcing the organization to re-evaluate strategies addressing maintenance of old buildings (About NYCHA, 2015).

Those who argue in favor of rent control say that it is the only way to protect

Brooklyn is a “melted pot” in terms of its diversity in population and culture. In many different areas of Brooklyn there are Public Housing set-up for those who are considered “low-income families”. Public Housing in brief was originally set up for people who would temporarily live there until they could eventually afford something better. In this day and age now Public Housing have become a “safe haven” for families who are low income as well as receive benefits such as food assistance (food stamps), Section 8 ( program set up to help pay rent to families who may not be able to afford

Gentrification is a major reason for the increase in rent prices throughout New York City. Harlem rent prices have gone up over the past years because of new condominiums and businesses that are being built in neighborhoods. The displacement of residents leads to an increase of people becoming homeless in the city. According to the author, Ivan Pereira, “Harlem saw a 9.4 % average rent price increase during that same period from $2,191 last year to $ 2,397 in January” (Pereira 1). The change causes longtime residents to move out because of a variety of factors including unaffordability, pressure from property owners, diminishing or lack of stores that cater to them and many more. The more condominiums and business’s being built makes living

Unknown and inexistent to the eyes of the middle and upper class, the deplorable conditions that the poor had been living in remained prevalent throughout the streets of New York City. Unsanitary and overcrowded tenements, massive numbers of children left out on the streets, brothels, and gambling dens (Oxford University Press 640) were just a few of the inhumane and dire aspects of New York City’s underworld that were in need of reform. After the start of the Civil War, New York city received great amounts of African Americans from the South. With the hopes of freedom and equal opportunities for all races in the North, many African Americans jumped at the opportunity to come to cities like New York, but when their expectations came face-to-face with reality, their dreams no longer ceased to exist. When it

Gentrification is the process of renovating and improving a neighborhood so that it can be more appealing to the middle-class taste and is negatively affecting many neighborhoods all over New York City. The gentrification of low-income neighborhoods can bring down a neighborhood and is responsible for the displacement of families who can’t afford to live in the gentrified area anymore due to the price of rent being dramatically increased. Landlords tend to raise rent to cast out low income renters and make room for higher-income renters who are looking to move into the neighborhood. Some of the lower class residents who are basically forced out of their homes tend to move in with relatives, search for a place to go in one of the city’s remaining cheap areas, and can even go homeless if they have no family, friends, or anywhere to go.

Gentrification is the process of taking distressed inner city neighborhoods and upgrading them to be more attractive to upscale skilled workers, and major corporations; where the neighborhood is converted to more affluent residential use. Studies profile most gentrifiers to be affluent, young, single, urban professionals and young, married couples who are both wage earners and have no children or small families. Housing improvements, city service upgrades and expansion of the local economy is often attributed to these gentrifiers. There are many New York City neighborhoods in recent years that have gone through gentrification. Some of those neighborhoods include Williamsburg, Downtown Brooklyn and Harlem to name a few. Gentrification can be positive for all involved if the government is able to employ successful provisions where the negatives turn into positives and existing members of the community won’t become unable to afford to continue to live in their residences due to rising housing costs and thus be forced out to live elsewhere. Support mechanisms must be in place for the current community to be able to reside and blend into the newly redeveloped community.

The accuracy is primarily due to Routhier’s extensive use of graphs and statistics, which provide visual depictions of the issues being discussed. The accuracy of this article is further seen through its use of citations, listed at the bottom of the page where each citation is used, for each statistic and graph presented in the article, making the evidence used in the article credible. One source Routhier used comes from the Metropolitan Council on Housing, which was used when discussing the lack of affordable housing available in New York City. The article she used states, “Many neighborhoods that used to be affordable to people of modest means have seen rents skyrocket, and the only reason why most long-time tenants are able to stay in the communities where they set roots is because of our rent-regulation laws” (Metropolitan Council on Housing). This directly connects with Routhier’s argument regarding unaffordable housing. The direct connections display both the credibility and accuracy of the source. While the article’s primary focus is the homeless population in New York City as of the year 2017, it covers a vast number of variables involved. Such variables include individuals, families, those living in shelters, and those who are not living in shelters. Each variable is covered through both Routhier’s written account and visuals, which analyze

When you were running for mayor you said that you will stand for the 99%, being true to your word you are trying to pass regulations to help that 99%. Especially passing the Rent Regulation Laws of 2015, which will save hundreds of tenants, but it will only solve the issue for the next four years. Other solutions that you are taking is inclusionary zoning where Developers get tax breaks for having at least 20% of their apartments to be affordable rent. On the other hand the price of affording rent is far fetch from what is affordable for the working class. As rent increases to a record high in parts of Brooklyn and Queen. We are now facing with the older tenants being price out. The average household income in New York City, where the rent is changing faster than wages, renters don 't make enough for the new affordable rent which is about 2000 a month in these inclusionary zones. Moreover, these solutions just solve the question of the limited stabilized rent and not the issue of stopping the removal of the population that was already around nor the gap between the rich and the poor.

The first few chapters of this book highlights the poor living conditions in the city of New York

It is not desirable but we can understand why people collect high rents in Manhattan. That’s because there is a great demand for the lands in Manhattan, but there is less supply. So, the land rates are high in that area. We are unhappy when we come to know that the right to drive a taxi in Manhattan costs $1 million for a year. $1 million is the capital amount. And the rent is charged

Without rent control analysts believe places such as Manhattan would become occupied solely by middle class and rich people the poor would be priced out of living there and forced to move to something less desirable. ​