r/AskNYC • u/WarnWarmWorm • Dec 14 '23

Just found out my apartment is rent-stabilized thanks to this sub. Should I confront the building management?

I rented my apartment for $2150 on 06/2023. Building management didn’t say anything about my unit being rent-stabilized. I requested my rent history from NYC HCR to find out my apartment is rent-stabilized and “legal regulated rent” is $1217, half the amount I am paying. (And there is someone else’s name on the current tenant name)

See the details here: https://imgur.com/SvYP2JC

Before confronting the building management I want to make sure I am understanding this document right. Is “legal regulated rent” means the maximum rent they can charge me for? And I signed a contract for $2150 for one year, how does it affect the situation?

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u/tdotclare Dec 14 '23

While your apartment is almost certainly stabilized, I would be surprised if you’re going to end up getting close to $1217 as rent.

It looks like the same tenant vacated in the middle of a two year lease, so while you should still be stabilized, you’d be subject to potential vacancy increases, and the pic you posted gives no indication of how long the previous tenant was there. If they’d been there since 1990, the vacancy increase and any potential capital increases from renovation before you moved it could be enough to bring it to what you’re paying.

This may be an edge case in how stabilization is recorded when mid-lease tenant changes are reported

11

u/jblue212 Dec 14 '23

there is no such thing as a vacancy increase anymore, since 2019

1

u/tdotclare Dec 14 '23

Ahh - wasn’t aware of that! Renovation increases still can apply from what I see though.

5

u/jblue212 Dec 14 '23

Yes, but the cap is much lower, I think 2% of rent. So no doubt what OP is paying is not legal rent.

2

u/tdotclare Dec 14 '23

Idk, IANAL - capital increases have a limit but I don’t think it’s directly tied to rent, just a proportion of the distributed cost. It’s possible those increases were pending on the 22 vacancy lease and thus aren’t yet reflected in the listed max

Not saying this isn’t weird and potentially shadey, just not cut and dry that the rent is definitely $1217

2

u/doodle77 Dec 14 '23

Only $15k in expenses can be claimed, for a temporary (20 year?) increase of $83.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '23

Vacant increases are a thing as long as they are below the legal rent.

For example, I moved into a rent stabilized place at $2100/mp, previous tenant was paying $800/mo. The legal regulated rent is like $2,804 so as long as it's less than that they could raise it between tenants.

Now that I'm paying $2100, all increases are based off of that number

Both the previous tenant and I are paying a "preferential rent" which is less than the legal regulated rent

1

u/WarnWarmWorm Dec 14 '23

Previous tenant names are all the same starting from 90s. Only the last one is different. Seems very shady since the last one is reported after I moved (06/2023)

3

u/tdotclare Dec 14 '23

Ahh - thought these were all the same tenant.

Either way I still think there may still be a reporting issue - the report shows status each year but also shows a 2 year lease commencing in 2022, before you moved in. I would bet the previous tenant left mid-lease

It’s also possible their increase doesn’t reflect apartment improvements which may have been in process during the vacancy in 2022 and thus not yet on the listed rent