The Brian Lehrer Show

Blame "Friends." Turned NYC into Rube Central.

Is there any regulation of brokers' fees? Rental prices are bad enough as it is without having to tack on another unadvertised 10%.

I'm currently in the market for a new rental apartment and have come across a few listings that require as much as 6 months rent upfront. Is this legal? How can we protect against owners from taking advantage of desperate renters?

10% ? you got off easy. most brokers are charging 15% of the first year's rent. some brokers are requiring you give them this money up front (along with your first month's rent and security deposit) in travelers checks, bank checks, or cash (since credit card charges can be disputed, and personal checks can be stopped) at the time you fill out their paperwork, which is BEFORE the landlord has approved you as a tenant. don't play this game. walk away from these people really fast, unless you need somewhere to sleep that same night.

How about asking Congressman Weiner where is the Federal funding for mass transit that he promised if congestion pricing was defeated?

Ask him how he feels about Chicago and LA getting hundreds of millions of Federal dollars that were coming to NYC to improve outerborough transit.

Is that net or gross income?

Are you looking at gross income? That's too unrealistic. I'm trying to stick to net so I can actually save some $.

1/3 of housing should be AFTER tax not before.

IE AFTER TAX INCOME.

PS

45k in 212 has been poverty level for 10 yrs. -- unless one enjoys taxpayer (or better, family) subsidized housing.

Sure, there's been a housing boom.. but it seems $2000 is the new base price to everything.

I can't help but think this is directly linked to the unraveling of rent stabilization.

I have been living in Brooklyn for eight years, each year my salary has gone down consistently and my cost of living has raised. I take home maybe about 2500.00 a month and my rent is 1400 and will probably go up. I am not sure what to do and it is something I worry about everyday. I barely have money to pay bills, buy food and I don't shop for anything but necessities when I can afford them. I also have no health insurance anymore and so I do not go to the doctor and have stopped taking any or all medication. Also I have been told I am paying "cheap" rent.

So what can I do?

I am not sure..

when you say 1/3 of income, do you mean gross or net?

How about asking Congressman Weiner where can we find this report (and methodology)?

I pay a little less than 35% of my net income for rent every month. I live in Queens.

The landlords are also using the apts. to rent out to tourists for short term. This dries up the available stock, this drives up the rents, and all the while they're making a killing.

I technically adhere to the rule (yes, after-tax), but only by living in what alot of people would consider a sub-standard bldg in Bushwick. I fixed it up to make it livable and I'm content.

Lynne, wish I had an answer for you. In the past, the easy response would have been, move to the suburbs. But when you factor in that the cost of living in NY, Westchester and Long Island is on par or even higher than the city and the additional cost you'll incur commuting into the city and maintaining a car (which I assume you don't have right now) - you're probably better off in Brooklyn.

C

What about senior citizens' rents? Many of us who enrich & support the city is so many ways, choose to "retire" in New York City, but obviously our incomes are reduced. We have to compete with younger working renters for the same spaces. We need a break on our rent!

Does 50% mean net or gross income?

I just heard on NY1 news that landlords are trying to negotiate a 10 - 15% INCREASE for rents. I can't remember if it was for rent controlled or rent stabilized apartments. What does your guest know about this and how does he think THAT will impact residents of this city?

It's not just the outrageous rent (60%+ of your income), it's what you get for the money. NYC apartment stock is decrepit: 600 sf units built before or shortly the 1930s full of asbestos and cracking lead paint. When I compare prices with my friends paying almost as much (but still lower than NYC) in other high rent cities like LA, SanFran, etc, at least they can choose from apartment buildings built within the last decade with AC and washer/dryers no less! Living in NYC is such a rip off!!

I pay over 60% of monthly income on rent - and I have SCRIE. Complicating this - I collect social security and there are limits to how much I can earn any way. Only hope is to get into senior subsidised housing but the waiting lines are VERY long (years).

PS - why do regular apartment hunters pay such high brokers fees when the landlords get the financial benefit from the service? Shouldn't landlords pay at least half the fee?

I'm a 26 year old professional dancer and dance teacher, I'm currently only spending 1/4 of my income in a rent controlled converted three bedroom. I'm living with good friends in a 3 bdroomapt. Unlike most 20-somethings, my parents have decided to not help me with rent, and I feel strong, independent and able becuase of it. Living comfortably in nyc is possible. My neighborhood is safe, quiet, and has an amazing population make-up.

Lynn, perhaps you can move to a 2-bedroom and get a flatmate.

The last caller just said that he thought that paying 30% was outrageous, and that he was paying a little bit more than 30%. But isn't it 30$ of New Yorkers pay 50% of their income, not 30% of their income?

I make 60K and pay 45% of my income in rent.

the broker fees should be criminal. the city should create a (not for profit) online listing service. The price to list must be reasonable, say $50. There should little or no fee for the renter period to use the service.

moving costs also keep renters from changing homes because the the associated costs are too high. I recently calculated a move from midtown to harlem would cost $12,000 after the broker fee, security deposits and moving costs are calculated. Unreasonable.

33% NET INCOME

We used to have affordable middle income housing through Mitchell-Lama. Those apartments have been allowed to be sold off giving windfall profits.

The classic recommendation was 25 percent for housing. It only went up to 30 percent in recent decades. Why? What about the other 5 percent? Wasn't that supposed to be budgeted for savings?

"Warehousing" by landlords who kept rental apartments off the market illegally, in order to sell them when laws changed....THIS made a huge difference in 'supply and demand'....Our government, unlike some NJ communities, turned a blind eye.

I saw lots of buildings going up in the 1950s and 60s--nothing but "Luxury Housing".....Once again, not 'normal'....

Building slowed downed under Reagan, not because of the economy only, but willfully because the idea of investing in 'affordable housing' was anathema to The Reagan Revolution.

30% of New Yorkers pay too much in rent. The average credit card debit in America is thousands of dollars. Lots of people have their houses foreclosed because they borrowed more than they can afford.

People just aren't smart with money. Maybe the 30% of people paying over 50% in rent should just look in the outer boroughs.

what has Weiner ever done for the city?

Unlike what landlords and realtors say, rental rates aren't driven by the actual market, but what landlords feel they deserve or are entitled to. I've seen rentals in Sunset Park Brooklyn renting for upwards of $40/square foot/year. That can be up to $1800/month on a 500 square foot apartment. That's also over $20,000 a year in a neighborhood with an average income of about $30-35 thousand a year. Landlords are always reaching for the top of the market, not just what the average person can pay.

I ran through 5 landlords (I may have lost count) for my rent stabilized apartment in East Elmhurst.

It is run down and the landlords shirk their responsibilities concerning repair and upkeep. They bought off lists not even coming to the apartment to check it out. My friend moved to a nearby private house where they are also not delivering promised services. I pay low. He pays 3x as much and there is garbage (beer bottles-plastic contains all supplied by a grand chorus of new people)strewn all over. What the hell are we paying for? The priviledge of NYC?

If you can't afford the rent.

Leave the city and live somewhere cheaper.

I really wish the host had Weiner respond to the real estate broker who called - he sounded so incredibly uninformed.

Entitlement? He was kidding, right? Since when is decent housing an entitlement, whether it's in Manhattan or anywhere else.

Oh, I wish I had the time to rant on and read everyone else's comments - will do later.

Of course the broker lives in a rent-stabilized apartment! Would love to know if he works at one of the high end firms like Corcoran. How about a bit of objectivity and empathy when addressing this issue - what a jerk!

Now here's an issue I'd listen to Al Sharpton about.

Hello, Protesters??

I am a white collar worker paying $1600 a month plus Heat and Electric for an apartment in Bushwick 1 block away from a the housing projects.

the Rental market in NYC is completely insane.

**** NYC is an international city. The drop of the dollar has made NCY apts attractive to those abroad, further supporting demand in a way not happening elsewhere in the US.

If I am doing the calculation correctly, it seems like my wife and I are quite below the "expected" renters amount. It seems as if you have two professionals, who work full time, living in a one-bedroom apartment, you should easily be within the 30% mark. Fwiw, we live in an elevator/part-time doorman building on the UES.

I say it's 1/3...if it's 1/3 of TWO incomes.

Two can live as cheaply as one...for half the time.

I moved from manhattan to brooklyn so that I can pay %33 of my take-home income to rent.

If some people, as the commenter said, are 'entitled' to a manhattan apartment that costs %33 of their take-home income, then what determines the entitlement? Who deserves to live in manhattan more than others?

The middle class will remain a stable middle class by making sensible, personal, economic decisions, and this includes moving (even to other states and regions) to pay less in rent or mortgage. This is a major factor influencing people who move to North Carolina or Virginia.

hjs -- same question to you.

I will admit (to stu #4) that it's been several years since I've gone through a broker, precisely to keep costs down. The past two apartments that I've lived in have been through personal connections and lucky opportunities. I'm fortunate enough that right now I'm paying 35% of my net income, but only b/c I've been impersonating my friend who used to live in the apartment (thus no major rent increase b/t tenants). I'll continue this until I get found out and booted onto the street.

THe high rents also make for more transient communities and destroy neighborhoods. THis has a deleterious effect on the quality of democratic participation in the city.

What would New York look like if all housing was left to the bare market???

agree w wells (40)

In response to the real-estate agent.

We've been living in the Wall street area for the past 7 years. Our rent has doubled during that time, while our income stayed more or less the same. We moved when our rent reached over $8000, and are now paying over $6000. We would move, except that then we'd have to pay to send our 3 kids to private schools.

I don't know in which reality the agent is living.

My son graduated from college last June and, even with a roommate, pays more than half his salary in rent. Back in the 70's, my husband and I were very young, he had a starter job and I was in college. However, we could afford a lovely one-bedroom apartment, with a terrace, on Central Park West (the old Park West Village, now a very expensive condo).

I think that one reason for the housing crisis is the number of rent stabilized apartments that are kept off the market. In 2006 and 2007, I rented a room in an apartment on the UWS. The lease holder legally lived there, but in reality, lived in another state and came every other week for her job. She was a professional, married to a professional and their joint income must have been more that the rent stabilized limits. I paid 2/3 of the rent and I doubt she included that income. I imagine there are more cases like this.

In the meantime, my son and his roommate pay $3000 for a tiny walk-up. Fortunately, they have no kids, no cars, and no responsibilities and their employers pay their health insurance.

You can live well in, say, Atlanta for $600/mo rent with good job opportunities. If you choose to live in/near NYC it is for the cultural opportunities afforded by a major World city and that costs. You think I want to live in Jersey?!!

how does one check the rent history of an apartment?

I live in Windsor Terrace with my boyfriend and we are currently paying less than 30% of our take home pay for our apartment. It can be done folks.

#50.

Sure. If you have a boyfriend to live with. A person new to this city won't necessarily have a 'boyfriend' to help share the burden. And you take a huge chance moving in with strangers.

Hopefully you two won't break up. In which case you would likely become one of the 'folks' paying too much alone.

It is not necessary to get a lawyer to find out the rental history of your apartment. Call DHCR or go to your their office at 25 Beaver St. in lower Manhattan (the 4/5 train to Bowling Green). This is the only helpful office.

Hey Anna F.

If you were looking to live by yourself you couldn't afford an apt. And, you converted an apt. into a 3 bdr., which skews everything. And if you have student loans, it makes paying rent even even more difficult...the issue is not about you feeling strong, it's about the general housing problem. And, a lot of people don't have the luxury of knowing if things get tough they can call their parents. Great that you love your population make up.

When a building in Manhattan is demolished, the tenant loses his rent stabilization status.

Buildings are being demolished all over the city, most notably on 57th and 58th Street between 6th and 8th Avenues. There are many seniors living in these buildings who will lose their apartments because of this "loophole" in the rent stabilization law.

This is so unfair!!!

I'm working 2 jobs, one of which is working as a real estate agent. I have 2 things to contribute. 1) I, like many NYers, pay more than half my income to rent. However, I feel that many people come to this city for unique opportunities and expect a "starving artist" phase, where living hand-to-mouth is okay, as long as some progress is being made along a career path. 2) There was a comment by I believe the Congressman (?) that rents have been dropping in the last few months. This is quite misleading. Anyone who knows anything about rentals can tell you that rents are always slightly lower over the winter. I don't have hard numbers, but a large majority of apartments are rented over the summer, and vacancies that appear over the winter can go empty for long periods of time, causing landlords to lower prices to fill the unit.

Ultimately this issue is simply a population problem. There are always people willing and able to pay these rents. There are so many industries in this city, not all of which feel the economic downturn to the same extent, and as long as there are a few industries continuing to thrive, there will be people who move to NYC and take those jobs and raise the rents.

Sorry for the long post.

To some extent, the city and tenants create their situation. I had a beautiful 2 bedroom apartment in a wonderful neighborhood. A tenant rented it below market rate for ten years. In the last 2 years he stopped paying rent and before he moved, a year after a judgment, he owed me more than $30,000. He moved, left all his belonging, which I had to dispose of. I had to get new refrig. and stove; throw out the rugs and it cost me about $5,000 to get the apartment back in shape.I went to a broker and got excellent tenants, who were thoroughly checked out. It is worth it to use a broker. Unfortunately, landlords, especially small ones have to protect themselves.

I also had another tenant who paid a month and half rent and stayed another 6 months without paying. Some tenants make it bad for all.

The last two comments are incredibly insightful (Scott and L. McLean).

My boyfriend is a building super on the UWS and there are several rent-control tenants who owe upwards of $60,000. They seem to be the ones with the most complaints oddly enough. If only I could live on the cheap in the UWS! Sadly, it's Bushwick for me, paying over 50% of my income on rent. Probably when those people get evicted, the landlord will "renovate" and destabilize the rent.

Has anyone said anything about property taxes in NYC? I don't own, so I know very little about the tax burden on landlords. Is there one? What about utilities? Who is really profiting from all of this money?

I just wanted to correct something that was said at the end of the segment -- if you live, or think you might live in a rent stabilized building and believe that your landlord may have illegally raised your rent, there are steps that you can take (short of filing a lawsuit) to investigate the issue and have your rent reduced if you have been paying more than what your landlord is legally allowed to charge.

The Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) is the state organization that oversees the administration of rent-regulated buildings, and is the organization that will investigate any complaint a tenant brings against a landlord for rent-overcharge.

In order to find out if your landlord has illegally raised your rent, you need to 1) confirm that your building is rent-stabilized, 2) get a copy of the registered rent history of your apartment, and 3) file a complaint with DHCR if you believe you are being overcharged.

Step 1 -- go to http://www.housingnyc.com/html/resources/zip.html, where you can download lists of rent stabilized building by borough and then by zip code.

Step 2 -- go in person to a DHCR borough office with a copy of your lease and photo ID to get your rent history. http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/general/contact.htm#ora

Step 3 -- information on how to file a complaint can be found at http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/

If you would like more info on rental housing advocacy please join us for a DEFENDERS OF HOME planning event!

http://socialnetwork.meetup.com/1052/calendar/7611251/

Mr. Weiner focus on these types of issues says a lot about how he would run this city as mayor. We need government officials who care about middle class issues, such as affordable housing, and less about the special interests of developers. Lets bring back the city we all remember before the gentrifying lover we now have in the office.

Property taxes have gone up significantly under Bloomberg. ConEdison, Water bills and Keyspan, heating, have gone up. My typical monthly heat is almost $400/month; water bill for quarter $150 and monthly electricity is about $160. This is before other utilities and expenses. If you get a sanitation ticket it can be anywhere from $100-$300 for a minor infraction.

Landlords, especially small ones, are people too and have the same expenses that everyone else has. Try getting a contractor or even a handyman to do any work and see. There is no such thing a "Handyman" any more. Everyone wants to get rich overnight. We still have to pay for gas, food, etc.

When the small landlord is gone, everyone will have to pay outrageous rents.

There are more tenants than Landlords so

New York City is the only area where landlords

have a very hard time in court.

Carolyn from Long Island states: "My son graduated from college last June and, even with a roommate, pays more than half his salary in rent. Back in the 70's, my husband and I were very young, he had a starter job and I was in college. However, we could afford a lovely one-bedroom apartment, with a terrace, on Central Park West (the old Park West Village, now a very expensive condo). I think that one reason for the housing crisis is the number of rent stabilized apartments that are kept off the market. In 2006 and 2007, I rented a room in an apartment on the UWS. The lease holder legally lived there, but in reality, lived in another state and came every other week for her job. She was a professional, married to a professional and their joint income must have been more that the rent stabilized limits. I paid 2/3 of the rent and I doubt she included that income. I imagine there are more cases like this."

Carolyn: Back in the 70s, there were MORE rent controlled and rent stabilized apartments in NYC than there are now. How could rent control and stabilization be responsible for the increase in rents?

Also: by law, a rent stabilized or controlled apartment must be the primary residence of the lease holder. This means the lease holder must live there some minimum number of days each year. (180 days, I think.) A rent stabilized or rent controlled apartment can only be sublet for short periods with the written consent of the landlord.

Scott at UA writes: "Ultimately this issue is simply a population problem. There are always people willing and able to pay these rents. There are so many industries in this city, not all of which feel the economic downturn to the same extent, and as long as there are a few industries continuing to thrive, there will be people who move to NYC and take those jobs and raise the rents."

Perhaps. My employer, Citibank, is encouraging people to leave NYC by simply refusing to pay more than they will for workers elsewhere. The explicitly say that they want people to work where they do not need large salaries. Most workers no longer need to be in NYC. With technology, a lot of high paying jobs can be telecommuted. (hopefully, not from India, though) Of the 20 people in my department, I am the only one left in NYC. Perhaps not for long, even though I have a rent stabilized apartment and only pay 25% of my take home pay in rent. It's simply too much money when I compare it to what's available elsewhere. In 1987, all three of the largest NYC employers: finance, fashion & advertising went into a downturn. NYC shed about 150,000 jobs. The unemployed did not stay here to work as baristas, they moved back to Minneapolis or wherever. Rent stabilization & rent control saved the landlords because it had prevented them from chasing higher paying renters, who all abruptly left when the downturn occurred.

I pay about 66% of my take home pay on rent & my apt is rent stabilized. Just to offer a counter to comment 57, I pay my rent on time & don't complain about anything. According to my super, the non-stabilized tenants in the building are much more demanding. I've lived in the building for 18 years, and there has only been one eviction, due to nonpayment of rent.