Lawmakers To Vote On Rent Control

In a city where newcomers can pay $1,500 a month for a dingy studio apartment while long-time residents live in rent-regulated splendor, a last-minute deal to extend rent controls brought tenants a sigh of relief Monday.

Eight minutes after the half-century-old rent laws expired at midnight Sunday, state officials came up with a compromise that extend protections for all but the wealthiest among more than 2 million people in 1.1 million rent-regulated apartments.

The proposed plan, which the Legislature was to consider today, would allow landlords to raise the rent 20 percent - more than under previous rules - when …

In a city where newcomers can pay $1,500 a month for a dingy studio apartment while long-time residents live in rent-regulated splendor, a last-minute deal to extend rent controls brought tenants a sigh of relief Monday.

Eight minutes after the half-century-old rent laws expired at midnight Sunday, state officials came up with a compromise that extend protections for all but the wealthiest among more than 2 million people in 1.1 million rent-regulated apartments.

The proposed plan, which the Legislature was to consider today, would allow landlords to raise the rent 20 percent - more than under previous rules - when someone moves out.

And, apartments that rent for more than $2,000 a month would be deregulated for tenants earning more than $175,000 a year. The previous law removed protections from those who earned more than $250,000 for two consecutive years.