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I live in Inwood, and instead of a rent stabilized apartment, we got the shaft with preferential rent. This is how it seems to work; the 'actual' rent is supposed to be $3000 (almost double the going rate) then the landlord gets a huge tax break by charging less than this fictitious amount. Now after only two years, the rent has gone up from $1550, to $1670, they get kickbacks and raise the rent based on the ridiculous numbers... this apartment has not been renovated since at least the 70s. Is there a way to see if this is actually legal? How can they get away with this? I can see if they want to charge the going rate, but they shouldn't get a government kickback for doing it (more people have moved out of this building than I have ever seen anywhere, there are at least 3 apartments vacated every month, largely due to the nightlife on dyckman)
False information. Landlords do NOT get a tax break for charging a preferential rent. In fact, there are no tax breaks for landlords just for being rent stabilized.
how do you know this? i wasn't talking about rent stabilization, and the building manager told me they get a tax break, otherwise why would it even be a thing? every month the bill says rent - subsidised = subsidised rent.... so what you said doesn't make sense to me
My understanding of preferential rents is that they are usually situations where the landlord can't realistically expect to get the market rent. That could be for a variety of reasons like the building is on an unattractive block, the landlord doesn't have the means to fully renovate the apartments, market rent is out of wack, etc etc. I have never heard of it being a tax break.
so, if they can't get the market rent, they are allowed to increase the rent on a supposed market rent that is double the actual price people are paying? i'll check the link
so, if they can't get the market rent, they are allowed to increase the rent on a supposed market rent that is double the actual price people are paying? i'll check the link
It's confusing because by nature, Rent Stabilization is a law that makes no sense and defies all reasonable logic. Just like a $400 a month rent in Manhattan is a low artificial rent created by RS so is a artificially high rent of $2,500 for a 1 bedroom apartment in Hunts Point in the Bronx.
By RS law, landlords get a bump in the legal rent every time the apartment turns over. The magic legal rent number to deregulate a rent stabilized apartment into a free market apartment is currently $2,700. So with every turn over the RS apartment inches closer and closer to that magic $2,700 number.
In the a$$ backwards world of Rent Stabilization, the legal rent amount reflects the legal rent the landlord is ENTITLED to charge a tenant by law.
Let's not forget that word...ENTITLED.
It's a 2-way street. So, just like RS tenants are ENTITLED to get their leases renewed despite the LL's wishes, Landlords are also ENTITLED to charge the legal rent for that apartment at their sole discretion. And rightfully so.
In lower rental markets, usually in the outer boroughs where the market rate for a 1 bedroom is $1,300 and 2 bedrooms go for $1,600, Landlords opt to give the tenant a discounted rent from the higher legal rent the Landlord is entitled to charge. This discounted rent is called "Preferential Rent".
The preferential rent is ONLY good for the term of the lease. When the tenant's lease expires, the Landlord can LEGALLY charge the higher legal rent if he wanted to.
POS Mayor De Blasio and his RGB cronies just passed a rent freeze for the 2nd year in a row. Therefore, for 2 years straight the legal rent for an RS apartment will not increase HOWEVER, preferential rents exist for such reasons because despite there being a rent freeze 2 years in a roll, Landlords can bypass the rent freeze and increase a tenant's rent if they have a lower preferential rent.
The only people that benefit from the rent freeze are the old school tenants who have lived in their apartments 20+ years with their monthly rent being at legal.
So if you're a "lifer" tenant who's been in your apartment forever and pays $600 a month in rent which is also the legal rent for the apartment, then you stand to benefit from the rent freeze.
This is no such thing as a Landlord receiving a tax break for providing or charging preferential rents or for being rent stabilized. The tax breaks that exist like J-51 and others have nothing to do with preferential rents of for having RS apartments. Totally false.
Last edited by allpro123; 07-20-2016 at 11:38 AM..
It's confusing because by nature, Rent Stabilization is a law that makes no sense and defies all reasonable logic. Just like a $400 a month rent in Manhattan is a low artificial rent created by RS so is a artificially high rent of $2,500 for a 1 bedroom apartment in Hunts Point in the Bronx.
By RS law, landlords get a bump in the legal rent every time the apartment turns over. The magic legal rent number to deregulate a rent stabilized apartment into a free market apartment is currently $2,700. So with every turn over the RS apartment inches closer and closer to that magic $2,700 number.
In the a$$ backwards world of Rent Stabilization, the legal rent amount reflects the legal rent the landlord is ENTITLED to charge a tenant by law.
Let's not forget that word...ENTITLED.
It's a 2-way street. So, just like RS tenants are ENTITLED to get their leases renewed despite the LL's wishes, Landlords are also ENTITLED to charge the legal rent for that apartment at their sole discretion. And rightfully so.
In lower rental markets, usually in the outer boroughs where the market rate for a 1 bedroom is $1,300 and 2 bedrooms go for $1,600, Landlords opt to give the tenant a discounted rent from the higher legal rent the Landlord is entitled to charge. This discounted rent is called "Preferential Rent".
The preferential rent is ONLY good for the term of the lease. When the tenant's lease expires, the Landlord can LEGALLY charge the higher legal rent if he wanted to.
POS Mayor De Blasio and his RGB cronies just passed a rent freeze for the 2nd year in a row. Therefore, for 2 years straight the legal rent for an RS apartment will not increase HOWEVER, preferential rents exist for such reasons because despite there being a rent freeze 2 years in a roll, Landlords can bypass the rent freeze and increase a tenant's rent if they have a lower preferential rent.
The only people that benefit from the rent freeze are the old school tenants who have lived in their apartments 20+ years with their monthly rent being at legal.
So if you're a "lifer" tenant who's been in your apartment forever and pays $600 a month in rent which is also the legal rent for the apartment, then you stand to benefit from the rent freeze.
This is no such thing as a Landlord receiving a tax break for providing or charging preferential rents or for being rent stabilized. The tax breaks that exist like J-51 and others have nothing to do with preferential rents of for having RS apartments. Totally false.
This is correct. Thank you for saving me from having to type it up.
I live in Inwood, and instead of a rent stabilized apartment, we got the shaft with preferential rent. This is how it seems to work; the 'actual' rent is supposed to be $3000 (almost double the going rate) then the landlord gets a huge tax break by charging less than this fictitious amount. Now after only two years, the rent has gone up from $1550, to $1670, they get kickbacks and raise the rent based on the ridiculous numbers... this apartment has not been renovated since at least the 70s. Is there a way to see if this is actually legal? How can they get away with this? I can see if they want to charge the going rate, but they shouldn't get a government kickback for doing it (more people have moved out of this building than I have ever seen anywhere, there are at least 3 apartments vacated every month, largely due to the nightlife on dyckman)
Detailed response has already been provided, so there you are.
Your apartment falls under RS and like many above 96th Street in Manhattan and some other areas of the outer boroughs LL's couldn't get the legal RS if they wanted to because it was higher than the prevailing market rate rents. Now that mostly *all* of NYC has become "hot" LL's can get the higher RS rent and are moving to exert that right.
This is happening more and more often now that that the rental market for most parts of NYC is hot. Harlem, Inwood, the Bronx, large parts of East Brooklyn, etc... areas where once no one wanted to live are now seeing an influx of hipsters/transplants and or those merely economically displaced from Manhattan.
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