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So, I should have done this sooner. I think Kefir King told me to do this a year ago, but I never did. Now, I was served a renewal, and the landlord wanted to charge me an arm and a leg for next year for my apartment, I thought, hey couldn't hurt.
I asked for a rent history from DHCR. Now, these documents aren't the easiest to interpret. But as far as I could tell, my apartment is actually rent stabilized. (I wasn't told about this at lease signing, and has been operating under the assumption that it's a market rent apartment.)
Now, it's still possible that I have misinterpreted the DHCR documents. It was rent stablized in 2004. But since 2005, the record shows "Reg not found for subject premises". But, I don't see any record of destabilizing.
So... pretty sure that I'm paying above legal rent the last year. I'm almost fine with that, except I'm not so fine with the rent they want to charge next year.
How do you approach such a conversation with the landlord? Suggestions? Thoughts? Experiences?
I just finished one year, and about to sign onto a second year.
I'm the leasee. My name is on the lease (which actually, when I signed, it was a standard form for apartments not subjected to rent stabilization law). It's not a co-op. It's a plain old pre-war.
My current rent, and the proposed rent for next year, is under $2500.
I just finished one year, and about to sign onto a second year.
I'm the leasee. My name is on the lease (which actually, when I signed, it was a standard form for apartments not subjected to rent stabilization law). It's not a co-op. It's a plain old pre-war.
My current rent, and the proposed rent for next year, is under $2500.
i'm in Manhattan. I haven't tried contacting DHCR yet.
Interestingly, the mailing included a fact sheet, titled "#26 Guide to rent increase for rent stabilized apartments in new york city". Which further suggested to me that my apartment is indeed still stabilized.
It says on the fact sheet "DHCR recommends that if a tenant has reason to believe that the rent charged exceeds the lawful rent, he or she should discuss this with the building owner or managing agent before filing an overcharge compliant."
Now, that doesn't mean I won't call them to make sure I understood the paperwork. I just got home and JUST opened the mail. But, I'm reasonably confident that I understood the info....
I haven't gotten the notice. I already know that my building is rent stabilized. I just didn't know if my individual apartment was exempted or what not. But now I have reasons to believe that my individual apartment is still stabilized.
NooYowkur, when I used your link, here is the status:
RENT CONTOLLED APTS MAY EXIST
MULTIPLE DWELLING A
I haven't gotten the notice. I already know that my building is rent stabilized. I just didn't know if my individual apartment was exempted or what not. But now I have reasons to believe that my individual apartment is still stabilized.
NooYowkur, when I used your link, here is the status:
RENT CONTOLLED APTS MAY EXIST
MULTIPLE DWELLING A
Buildings are not rent stabilized, individual apartments are. Also, the DHCR registration history doesn't tell the whole storyof rent increases. You can have 2 turn overs within 1 year which translates to a 40% increase 20% first turn over, 20% the following turn over) from the priovious year registration. One that reads the previous year registration and sees a large jump in rent may automatically assume it was illegally raised when in fact it was legally raised. You start beefing with your landlord to later discover it was a legal increase. You now put yourself in the landlord's sh*t list. Not a good thing come lease renewal time. You will pay dearly.
i agree. that's why i figured i should enter into this discussion carefully.
i know that stabilization is for individual apartment. i requested from DHCR the history for my specific apartment, which suggests to me that my individual apartment is still rent stabilized. At least, record didn't show that it had became deregulated, as far as I could tell.
I agree that who knows what the legal rent should be, since there are years of record missing. If there is a high turnover, the legal rent could have gone up. I don't really feel that strongly about arguing about the rent that was originally charged thus far for the year.
BUT, the whole reason why I even asked for a rent history to begin with is that I AM up for renewal. They're looking to raise rent by over 8%. That's really what I'd like to bring down. Frankly, while the market has strengthened, the renewal rate is a little on the high side. But I like my apartment and don't want to move unnecessarily.
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