"Reality Bite for Apt. Bias": Daily News, May 23, 2016

There are reasons to like the Section 8 voucher program, and there are reasons not to. There is, however, a law that prohibits discriminating against renting to someone based on their lawful source of income. This includes, without limitation, Section 8 vouchers.  (See the New York City Human Rights Law.)

While I don't have the legal citation in front of me, I believe it only applies to landlords whose buildings either contain six units or more, or landlords who own units in different buildings which, in the aggregate, exceed six units.

The Daily News reported today that several real estate firms were sued by the Attorney General for "apartment bias." The AG can only enforce a law that exists, and yeah, this one exists.  Big time. And it has been on the books for years. So, owners and realtors: know the law.

Ups and Downs

The Sunday New York Times Real Estate section is informative, and it strikes me as a wonderful time capsule of the complaints, concerns and mumbled petulance of that rare breed, the New York City Dweller.

This week, someone is kvetching about their elevator being replaced.

The complaint is not about a defective elevator or a landlord who is trying to drive out rent regulated tenants by dragging his or her feet (cloven hoofs?) while pretending to make repairs.

While I don't think my parents or their friends had the answers (damn, I don't think they even knew the questions), I cannot imagine that hardy but twisted generation who lived through the Depression, World War II, the horrors of the concentration camps and the fear engendered by the atomic bomb whinging about repairs.

Yes, I can sympathize with someone who has to walk up 9 flights of stairs for several weeks.

But what to do?  Er...........deal with it.  Go out less.  Ask a kid in the building to run errands.  Plan your summer very carefully.

The real complaint, however, was not how to live with it, but how to pay for it.  The tenants want to withhold rent, which actually makes sense. You pay for a service, you want that service.  I get it.

And, at the same time, you want your elevator to work.  If you are renting a condo unit, then you are asking the person who owns your unit (who does not control the elevator repairs), to take a hit.

And you are standing on your rights, as well you should, to a landlord who need not renew your non-rent regulated lease.

The person who answered this query in the Times had the best response, one which should be heeded by all.  If you withhold your rent, you will be sued.  If you are sued, that becomes part of a database.  You are now on record as someone who did not pay his/her rent.  You can explain this away easily to your next prospective landlord, and your interlocutor may sympathize, but they may not rent to you, either. 

Rent Guideline Increases

As sure as the swallows will come back to Capistrano and the Boys of Summer will take the field, the Rent Stabilization Guidelines Board will meet and make no one happy.

It is a ritual, and we New Yorkers like our rituals as well as the next group of irate, overcrowded, paranoid and privileged group of city dwellers.

While our Byzantine rent regulations have been around longer than I have, it never changes.  No, not one bit. It's "the rent is too damned high" vs. "landlords cannot make a living."  The Mayor, be it Lindsay, Beame, Koch, Dinkins, Giuliani, Bloomberg, or de Blasio, is a stooge and puppet of the landlords, or the tenants, depending on who you ask, or rather, who is braying their opinion at you.

The most recent Guidelines Board meeting resulted in a proposed current spread of increases of 0 to 2% for a one year lease renewal and 0.3% to 3.5% for a two year renewal.  There is no final determination--that will come later amidst more cries and whimpers.

The final vote will come on June 27.  Hopefully I will be at a ballgame: or watching the swallows