Evictions Are Down In NYC Due To New Rent Law

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that evictions are down significantly since the state enacted the new rent laws. The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection act of 2019 was enacted in June of 2019 and has already seen a tremendous effect in filings.

The Wall Street Journal analyzed data from the period after June 14, 2019 which is the date that the law was enacted. What it found was that in non-payment proceedings filings were down forty six percent (46%) from the same period in 2018. Evictions in non-payments were down sixty one percent (61%) in July and sixty eight percent (68%) in August. The analysis also showed that filings in proceedings other than non-payment filings were down twelve percent (12%). The majority of these filings are considered “holdover” proceedings or when the tenant does not have an existing lease but remains at the premises as month to month tenants.

Judge Jean T. Schneider who is New York City’s supervising judge for housing courts believes that the decline in nonpayment cases to new rules that give tenants more time to respond to notices of lateness before a lawsuit is filed. The period for non-payment proceedings to be initiated in Court has now been extended to 14 days from either normal 3 or 5 days as was prescribed in leases. The ability of tenants to now obtain counsel and being able to look back six years on rent disputes are now deterrents as well. Prior to the enactment of the law tenant eviction were also going down. Evictions overall fell thirty seven percent (37%) since 2013.

Many landlords are considering it to much of a hassle to begin legal action unless there is an urgent need to do so. Landlords and developers criticized the new rent laws stating that it would discourage capital investment and cause the city’s housing stock to crumble. Appeals of the laws have been filed as we have previously reported.

BJD Property Management is a full service NYC property management company servicing the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx.  Whether it be a 1 bedroom condo or multi-family building we are able to assist our clients maximize their investments.

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Second Lawsuit Filed Contesting The Constitutionality Of The Rent Reform Law

A second lawsuit has been filed by a small group of landlords contesting the Constitutionality of the rent reform laws called the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019. The Real Deal is reporting that the landlords filed a complaint led by a group of landlords including Dino, Dimos and Vasiliki Panagoulias who own a building at 38-06 29th Street in Manhattan. The named Defendants are the state of New York, the New York Division of Homes and Community Renewal, HCR’s Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas, the city, the city’s Rent Guidelines Board and their board members. The Complaint unlike the first one filed seeks monetary damage for individual landlords.

The Complaint alleges that the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 is a “regulatory scheme” and a “regime in which tenants, not property owners, control who occupies the property, how it is used, and who may be excluded from it.” The Complaint further alleges that the law is in contrast to the Constitution’s “Contracts Clause,”. The clause bars governments from passing legislation in order to interfere with private contracts. The basis for this is because landlords are required to continue to charge preferential rent which would be lower than the legal rent until the apartment is vacated.

The first lawsuit was filed by the Rent Stabilization Association, the Community Housing Improvement Program as well as individual property owners. The Complaints legal theory for the stripping of the law was that rent law violates the Fifth Amendment’s “Takings Clause” and the Fourteenth Amendment’s “Due Process Clause.” The allegations is that the law amounts to an unjust taking because it severely limits when and how a landlord can increase rents on stabilized apartments. It would eliminate the ability of landlords to use the property and than for stabilized housing. Michael Vinocor, who is one of the named plaintiffs, states that the complaint will lead to a deterioration of the city’s housing inventory. Vincor states “My feeling is if they needed to make reforms, they could’ve done some rational reform.

HCR’s Brian Butry who is a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement “HCR has and will continue to both enforce the rent laws and investigate those who violate the law to protect tenants and the housing stock. The agency does not comment on pending litigation.”

BJD Property Management is a full service NYC property management company servicing the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx.  Whether it be a 1 bedroom condo or multi-family building we are able to assist our clients maximize their investments.

http://bjdpropertymanagement.com/second-lawsuit-filed-contesting-the-constitutionality-of-the-rent-reform-law/

Visit us at www.bjdpropertymanagement.com