rent guidelines board

Mayor Eric Adams is reportedly considering packing the Rent Guidelines Board, which sets allowable rent increases for rent-stabilized buildings, before leaving office.

The nine-member Rent Guidelines Board is considering a rent increase up to 5% on one-year leases and 7% on two-year leases.

The Rent Guidelines Board hosted several hearings leading up to the June 21st vote, which could raise rents for more than 1 million rent-stabilized apartments. Before the final one on Wednesday, tenants rallied outside in protest, calling for a rent rollback instead.

Rent-stabilized tenants are seeing some of the biggest potential hikes in almost a decade

It’s the largest proposed increase since 2013.

The board, which governs rent increases for 2.4 million stabilized tenants, has been mulling some of the biggest rent hikes in nearly a decade.

In an unusual move, the nine-member voted to freeze rents on stabilized apartments for the first six months of one-year leases while allowing landlords to increase rent by 1.5% for the next six months.

The panel kept the possibility of a modest increase on the table, while rejecting the landlord group's proposal for a steeper hike.

Tenant advocates didn't get everything.

"I don't think we anticipated that landlords would blatantly violate the law as quickly as they seem to have done," said Ellen Davidson, an attorney at the Legal Aid Society.