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IN THE TIMES: HOW KOSHER IS AN 82% RENT HIKE?

This piece appeared in the Real Estate Section of Sunday's New York Times

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An 82% Jump in the Rent

by JAY ROMANO

Q I've been renting in a New York City co-op for the last 11 years, and we've been living on a "month-to-month" basis for years. A new management company has taken over the building and issued a new lease for us. The increase in our rent for a one-year lease is 82 percent. We have 23 days to let the company know whether we accept it. Is this legal?

A "Unless a residential unit is subject to some form of rent regulation, an owner is typically free to charge whatever rent the market will bear," said Lucas A. Ferrara, an adjunct professor at New York Law School and a Manhattan real estate lawyer. Without a lease and an option to renew, free-market, "month-to-month" tenants also lack entitlement to a lease extension or renewal. (A renewal may be denied for no reason.)

The increase may seem excessive, but absent other facts -- like evidence of discrimination, which is prohibited -- the increase request does not appear to be illegal. Mr. Ferrara noted, however, that just because the tenant has not had a lease for many years does not necessarily mean he is not rent-regulated. The letter-writer should talk to a lawyer to see if the protections of the rent laws or other laws apply. "There are many regulated apartments situated in co-ops throughout the city," he said.

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