Our partner, Jonathan H. Newman, was quoted in the Real Estate Section of Sunday's New York Times responding to a reader's question.
Here's the piece in its entirety:
Stabilizing a Tenant's Status
by JAY ROMANO
Q My apartment was destabilized because my rent was over $2,000 and my family's gross income exceeded $175,000 for two consecutive years. But I am still under my previous stabilized lease, which expires in a few months. My income was well below the new $200,000 income cap imposed by the Rent Act of 2011, and my legal rent is also below the new cap. Can I be reinstated as a rent-stabilized tenant?
A "Whether or not the rule changes will apply to this tenant will depend on when the luxury deregulation process was initiated by the owner," said Jonathan H. Newman, a Manhattan real estate lawyer. If the paperwork was filed with the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal on or after July 1, 2011, an apartment can be deregulated only if monthly legal rent is $2,500 or more and the tenant's total household income -- reported on state income tax returns -- exceeded $200,000 for each of the two preceding calendar years. If the paperwork was filed before July 1, 2011, the landlord need show only that the monthly legal rent was $2,000 or more and assert that the tenant's household income exceeded $175,000 for each of the two previous years. But the statute is not retroactive, so if paperwork was filed before July 1, 2011, it is unlikely the letter writer would be able to regain stabilized status.