NEW YORK—In a rental complex right by the East River in Harlem—full of no-fee rentals, as the big sign outside boasts—tenants are organizing for improvements to their buildings.
It’s a common story for buildings losing rent-regulated units where the tenants have a litany of complicated rights. But in this case, these are not tenants of rent-regulated units, and they have absolutely no protections or tenant rights.
“I’m not afraid to speak out against management,” said Scott Hall, who moved into the Riverton complex in 2007 with his fiancée. “It just hasn’t done me any good.”
As a “market-rate” or “fair market” renter—basically any renter of an unregulated unit—the landlord is not obligated to renew your lease, and can charge whatever rent he or she deems appropriate. Not all landlords take every opportunity to double a tenant’s rent year to year; they tend to be reasonable, and in many neighborhoods residents have stayed for years despite not owning their homes or renting a regulated apartment.
But as hot as the rental market is, tenants in neighborhoods that have never faced this problem before are finding themselves priced out, and talk of organizing fair-market renters is growing.
Frustration
The seven years Hall has spent in Riverton is the longest he’s stayed in any apartment in New York, but he is very conscious of the fact that when—if—management offers him a new lease, there will likely be a rent increase of a couple hundred dollars attached. He has already started reaching out to friends and acquaintances as far away as the Rockaways or Yonkers to look for an affordable alternative.
The list of complaints Hall has is lengthy and, unfortunately, valid.
Just last week, Hall and his neighbors confirmed a tenant on the first floor had passed away weeks prior to her body being removed. According to the tenants, she had been unresponsive and inside her apartment for two to four weeks, as a bouquet of roses withered outside her door. Many calls were made to management, but no action was taken, Hall said.
