A couple's crusade to overturn rent regulations for a rent-stabilized tenant at their Upper West Side townhouse is being looked at by the U.S. Supreme Court. See, James and Jeanne Harmon think that Nancy Wing Lombardi, who has lived in a one-bedroom apartment at 32 West 76th Street, should pay more than the $1,000/month she currently pays. After all, she does have a second home in Southampton!
James Harmon inherited the home along with the tenants. According to the Daily News, "Three of their six rental apartments are occupied by tenants who pay 59% below market value," and Harmon told the News last year, "The issue is whether the Constitution allows the government to force someone to take strangers into their home and to subsidize them for the rest of their lives... My family has carried the burden of this for 40 years and enough is enough." An apartment next to Lombardi's is not regulated and rents for $2,650/month and Harmon's point about subsidizing "strangers" refers to how Lombardi's monthly mortgage payment at her Southampton home (bought for $320,000 in 2001) is $1,500/month (PDF).
The Wall Street Journal reports, "Rents are adjusted each year by the city's Rent Guidelines Board, which last year authorized a 3.75% increase for one-year lease renewals. Landlords can deregulate a vacant apartment when the legal rent reaches $2,500 a month. If the unit is occupied, landlords can charge market rents after hitting the $2,500 threshold if the tenant's household income exceeds $200,000 for two consecutive years."
James Harmon, a Vietnam vet, tells the Journal he doesn't have anything against Lombardi personally, "The problem here is not with the tenants; it's with New York law. It doesn't matter who you are or what your means are. You too can hit the rent-stabilization jackpot."
