The Governor introduced The Rent Act of 2011 late this afternoon as part of omnibus legislation including a property tax cap and mandate relief. The Legislature approved it tonight.
The bill extends both 421a and rent regulation through June 15, 2015.
It limits statutory vacancy allowances to one vacancy per calendar year, no matter how many times an apartment turns over.
It raises the high rent vacancy decontrol threshold from $2,000 to $2,500; and the high income/high rent deregulation threshold from $175,000 and $2,000 to $200,000 and $2500 effective today, June 24, 2011; although it grandfathers in earlier deregulations and high income deregulation proceedings commenced before July 1, 2011.
It reduces the one fortieth individual apartment improvement increase to one sixtieth in buildings with more than 35 units, effective September 24, 2011. It remains one fortieth in buildings with 35 or fewer units.
In addition to extending 421a, the bill extends the three year period allowed to complete construction to six years for work begun between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2009, although the tax exemption period for construction remains three years.
The bill also creates a new section 421m that can be adopted by cities and towns for designated benefit areas. The section would create a 20 year tax exemption program for new or substantially rehabilitated multifamily housing with a 20 percent affordable component. Eligible properties have to be vacant, underutilized, or containing non conforming uses or substandard housing to start with.
The bill is nicknamed “The Big Ugly” in Albany.
Meanwhile, in the rest of the world, our favorite comment on the arrest yesterday of Whitey Bulger, one of the FBI’s most wanted, in Santa Monica, CA: “The real reason Whitey evaded arrest is that he didn’t want to give up his rent-controlled apartment.”
Finally, office buildings 100 feet tall or higher that don’t have full sprinklering are required to retrofit by July 1, 2019 – but have to file a progress report on their plans with DOB by next Friday, July 1, 2011.