high-income rent deregulation

December 29, 2008 12:58 PM

My landlord is trying to deregulate the rent stabilized status of my NYC apartment/home that I have lived in for 15 years. By law he can do this if my income is above $175,000 and the rent is over $2000 a month. I personally do not earn close to this but the rent is over $2000. Question, if I am the sole leaseholder and have a roommate (month to month status) does our combined income qualify towards this total or is it only applicable to the leaseholder? Basically, I need a roommate to afford the rent and I am trying to find out if I should renew my upcoming lease.
posted by sequin to law & government (8 comments total)

In my experience in a rent stabilized apartment in NYC combined income is what matters. That said, your exact situation may be different, and I am not a lawyer. You may want to speak to one before you make any irrevocable decisions.
posted by Maastrictian at 1:17 PM on December 29, 2008

From what I've always understood, income of the leaseholder is not an issue--rent of over $2,000 a month automatically de-stabilizes an apartment.

I don't think, legally, that your landlord can consider the income of your roommate when making this change since your roommate is not on the lease, and it sounds like you don't share income in other ways.

I would call the Attorney General's office; they've always been very helpful to me in dealing with landlord issues.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 1:20 PM on December 29, 2008

I don't know the answer, but someone at Tenants and Neighbors might, or they should be able to at least refer you to an authoritative source. Here's a bunch of rent stabilization fact sheets from DHCR. Your answer might be in there. Alternatively, you could call DHCR's office of rent administration and ask them directly. I wouldn't necessarily take whatever someone at DHCR tells you at face value, I've known them to give incomplete or incorrect info, but it would be a place to start.
posted by otolith at 1:20 PM on December 29, 2008

Here's the fact sheet that applies to your situation. Just a quick glace at it makes it seem like your answer turns on whether or not your roommate would be considered a "primary residen(t) on other than a temporary basis." I would guess that your landlord is prepared to retain a lawyer to get an opinion on this kind of thing. You might have to respond in kind if you want to keep your apartment (or your current rent structure anyway).
posted by otolith at 1:27 PM on December 29, 2008

And here's the actual rent regulation code that pertains to you. See the definitions section. Again, too me this looks like a case that turns on the interpretation of the code, which could be influenced by many things (i.e. how long has your roommate lived there, what sort of agreement/contract/relationship do you have with them, is your landlord a party in this agreement, plus other things that I know nothing of). Might need to lawyer up.
posted by otolith at 1:42 PM on December 29, 2008

From what I've always understood, income of the leaseholder is not an issue--rent of over $2,000 a month automatically de-stabilizes an apartment.

No, rent of over $2000 by itself deregulates only a vacant apartment. An occupied apartment is deregulated if its rent is over $2000 and the total income of its occupants is over $175,000/year for two consecutive years.

Here is the form that the landlord can send you to request information on your income. Note that it asks only the names and NYS tax-filing status of the apartment's occupants, and then whether your total income — "(the total federal adjusted gross incomes as reported on the New York State income tax returns)" — was over $175,000 in both the two preceding calendar years, or was less than that in either of those years.

Why wouldn't you renew the stabilized lease? If the landlord can deregulate you, good for him, but you'll have the opportunity to leave at that time.
posted by nicwolff at 2:07 PM on December 29, 2008

If you don't feel comfortable relying on DHCR or your own reading of the law, call some tenant attorneys and find out how much a consultation would cost. I'm a legal services attorney (hence, I have no experience charging people for my services), but my understanding is that you can often get a half hour consultation for a fairly low fee, after which the attorney would be able to tell you how much it would cost to research and answer this question for you. An experienced tenant attorney may have seen this question before and be able to answer it for you quickly (and a quick answer should not be expensive).

(Also, nicwolff has provided the best answer so far, IMO.)
posted by Mavri at 6:01 PM on December 29, 2008

thanks.......much appreciated
posted by sequin at 9:09 AM on January 2