Low-Income Tenant Advocates Challenge Rent Guidelines Board Over “Poor Tax”

9/13/08- The Legal Aid Society and Legal Services NYC brought
legal action today in state Supreme Court against the New York City Rent
Guidelines Board (RGB).  The advocates
seek to strike down what has been characterized as “a poor tax” against
low-income tenants who have lived in an apartment for more than six years and
pay less than $1,000 a month in rent.

The law suit charges that the RGB exceeded its
statutory authority when, on June 19, it adopted the 2008 Apartment and Loft
Law #40, a supplemental adjustment for a new sub-class of housing
accommodations.   The RGB plan provided
for renewal increases of 4.5 and 8.5 percent for one-and two-year renewal
increases respectively.  It also provided
for a supplemental increase applicable to persons who have lived in an
apartment for more than six years and pay less than $1,000 in rent.  These tenants are to pay increases of no less
than $45 or $85 for one-and two-year renewals, which often results in a high
percentage increase than what is allowed under this year’s RGB guidelines. 

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn joined
the lawyers and tenants for a press conference on City Hall steps. 

“Rent-stabilized tenants are under attack from all
sides, and this unprecedented increase on longtime, low-income residents could
very well drive some residents out of their homes,” said Council Speaker
Christine C. Quinn.  “This rent hike
proves once and for all that the RGB is completely out of touch and needs to be
reformed.” 

Mercedes Casado, 50, is one of the plaintiffs in the
law suit.  Ms. Casado, a home attendant
who is employed by Union Settlement Home Care, has lived in her Inwood
apartment since 1992.  Her current rent
is $739.31.  As of January 1, her rent
will increase by $85 to $824.31, a more than 11 percent increase.  With this increase, Ms. Casado’s rent will
eat up 53 percent of her income.  She
will have trouble paying for her utility bills and it will be more difficult
for her to afford the rising costs of food. 
Her apartment is badly in need of repair, with broken windows, a hole in
the bathroom floor and a clogged sink. 
Her landlord has not made repairs. 

Another plaintiff, Paul Hertgen, has lived in the
same Staten Island apartment for 17
years.  Mr. Hertgen, a union truck
driver, was also the primary caregiver to his wife.  In January, 2007, she lost her battle with
cancer.  His rent is currently $685 a
month but will increase by 12 percent to $770 in October. 

The plaintiffs are asking the Court to vacate the
portion of Order #40, which provides for the supplemental increase, and to
declare that the RGB does not have the authority to create a new class of
housing accommodations and/or create rent adjustments not specifically
authorized by the legislature. 

New York State Tenants and Neighbors Coalition has
joined the plaintiffs in their suit. 

Attorneys handling the case include: Afua Atta-Mensah
and Ellen Davidson, staff attorneys with The Legal Aid Society; Judith
Goldiner, Supervising Attorney in the Society’s Civil Law Reform Unit; and John
C. Gray, Edward Josephson and Rachel Hannaford of South Brooklyn Legal
Services, Inc, a program of Legal Services NYC. 

“In a time when New Yorkers are struggling more than
ever, the Rent Guidelines Board exceeded its authority by punishing New Yorkers
for remaining in their homes and neighborhoods and for being poor,” said Ellen
Davidson, a staff attorney in The Legal Aid Society’s Civil Law Reform Unit. 

“The law does not permit the
RGB to place the heaviest rent burdens on the shoulders of NY’s most vulnerable
residents,” said Edward Josephson, Director of Litigation for South Brooklyn
Legal Services.  “RGB’s unprecedented longevity increase, unveiled on the
eve of its final vote and pushed through with unseemly haste, should be just as
swiftly annulled by the courts.”

 “The Rent Guidelines Board's arbitrary decision to
raise rents on New Yorkers who have done nothing more than make a long-term
home and create a community in which to raise their families, is shockingly
unfair, “ said Afua Atta-Mensah, a staff attorney in The Legal Aid Society’s
Civil Law Reform Unit.   “It also
violates the law and thus must be overturned.“

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Press:

New York Times  

New York Sun 

Columbia Spectator

WNYC