Tips for Renters
« Previous EntriesLandlords Vs. Tenants: Who Pays When Bed Bugs Invade?
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010When bed bugs invade an apartment, who calls the exterminator and who pays? The conundrum in the emerging field of bed bug law is pitting landlords against tenants and filling court dockets.
More on the City Council’s new “Fair Chance Act” Tenant Protection
Thursday, February 18th, 2010This law will require landlords and any other person who uses a tenant screening report to asses a potential tenant’s suitability for housing to disclose the name and address of the tenant screening company which prepared the report.
Landlord Housing Court screening must be disclosed to applicants
Thursday, February 11th, 2010Landlords who screen would-be renters for past appearances in Housing Court will have to disclose the information to applicants under a new law expected to pass the City Council.
Did you know there are Rent Stabilized parking spaces in NYC?
Thursday, February 11th, 2010Did you know there are Rent Stabilized parking spaces in NYC? It’s a hidden subsidy to own a car and drive in the city. Isn’t this just what we don’t need?
Avoid Fake Landlord Scams
Friday, February 5th, 2010Landlord scams can be avoided by never handing over cash or making a wire transfer to a stranger. If you must make an immediate payment, do it by check.
When Stabilized Units Are Deregulated
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010Rent stabilized leases can be deregulated only under specific conditions.
5,000 Financial District apartments could be eligible for rent regulation
Thursday, January 7th, 2010Thousands of Lower Manhattan apartments could become rent-stabilized based on a recent court decision.
On Dec. 23, Housing Court Judge Bruce Scheckowitz ruled that a market-rate apartment in 37 Wall St. should be rent-stabilized because the building’s owner is receiving a 421-g tax break. In an echo of the Stuyvesant Town case from earlier last year, [...]
U.S. apartment vacancy rate hits 30-year high
Thursday, January 7th, 2010Let’s skip most of the news report. We’re only really interested in the NYC marketplace. Here’s what the Reuter’s article had to say about NYC:
Higher priced rental properties in Manhattan drove the vacancy decline, while apartment buildings in more middle-class boroughs such as the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens haven’t been able to dodge the [...]
How to Get a Security Deposit Back From a Landlord
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009Thanks to the New York Times for this always needed advice:
How to Get a Security Deposit Back From a Landlord
By JENNIFER SARANOW SCHULTZ
Given the state of the economy, there’s no shortage of stories about debt-saddled landlords delaying repayment of security deposits.
Take mine. After moving to San Francisco from New York in January, my husband and [...]
Dowtown’s the Place to Be
Sunday, August 24th, 2008This is from The Sun on Aug 7, 2008: First Time Renters are leaving Uptown in Droves by Candaces Taylor
I’ve extracted the best parts for you but you can read the full story by clicking here. And of course, RDNY.com has listings for all the buildings mentioned in the article.
Move over, Normandie Court. The new [...]
New Rental Protection in NYC
Sunday, July 20th, 2008I don’t know how I missed this becasue I’ve been watching the news since mid-March when Mayor Bloomberg vetoed the original legislation, but effective March 26, 2008, renters in New York City cannot be turned down for an apartment because they have a Section 8 voucher. All legal sources of income have to be treated [...]
Apartment Buildings Will Never Look the Same Again
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008According the New York Magazine dated June 23, 2008, new building codes effective today (July 1, 2008) will change how the doors, the stairs, and smoke detectors look in new apartments. (Illustration by Kagan McLeod.)
Entrances: One of the coveted touches of the luxury loft—your key operates the elevator, which opens directly into your apartment—will go [...]
Even More Competition for Renters
Monday, June 23rd, 2008I get a daily e-mail update from Inman News, and today brought more evidence that more people who used to be buyers are renting instead. Whoda thunk that millionaires would be renters?
I spent a lot of time with buyers who wandered off, decided they didn’t have money — my favorite was the guy with $10 [...]
The Subprime Housing Fiasco Fallout: More Competition for Renters
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008From New York Times on June 21, 2008 comes more news that finding a good rental apartment is getting tougher: Rise in Renters Erasing Gains for Ownership
Here’s the important parts for us renters:
. . . the percentage of households headed by renters increased to 32.2 percent, from 30.9 percent.
The figures, while seemingly modest, reflect a [...]
2008 Rent Stabilization Guidelines
Saturday, June 21st, 2008(Photo by Robert Stolank for the NY Times. The Times has great photographers.)
The Rent Guidelines Board has finalized the 2008 rent stabilization rules:
* Stabilized leases signed between Oct 1, 2008 and Sept 30, 2009 will increase 4.5% for a 1-year lease, and 8.5% for a 2-year lease. This is the biggest increase since the Board [...]
Beware of Identity Theft
Saturday, June 21st, 2008I got these pix in an e-mail from the wife of the man who was my boss before I came to RDNY.com, and they are too adorable to not share. I’ll write a real post about how to avoid identity theft at another time. For now, here’s a god tip: never put anything personal [...]
Nadine’s Book Nook: Sweet and Low
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008I was away for a few days in Florida, and here’s a tip for anyone planning a summer trip to FLA: be sure to have something to read for the inevitable delay at the airport. I had to sit for 7 hours in the Fort Lauderdale Airport yesterday (June 16, 2008) while the storms cleared [...]
We’re on Your Side
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008That’s a groundhog, not a rat. It’s from an article by Tom Acitelli called Nobody Move! in the June 3, 2008 New York Observer telling us what we in RDNY.com’s Listings Dept have always known: there’s not much for a new renter to choose from in NYC because when a tenant has a good deal, [...]
Manhattan Rental Stats
Saturday, May 24th, 2008I haven’t been inspired lately to add to this blog. Things have been quiet on the rental front, until I saw this eye-catching graph in the New York Observer:
And here’s more not so good news from the article by Tom Acitelli:
It’s on again: the spring hunt for Manhattan apartments, and, according to the numbers, this [...]
The Law About Painting Your Apartment
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008We in the Listings Dept at RDNY.com always ask for clarification when someone tells us an apartment has been “renovated.” We think it’s an over-used term but we have to take the landlord’s word if he/she tells us they renovated a unit. I think we should ask when the unit was last painted because landlords [...]
HYDOSIJJ « Previous Entries