Part of the East New York Neighborhood Plan is to help the owner obtain loans for critical repairs. The hope here is that owners will not raise rents due to repairs. As with all proposals, it sounds great until you take a closer look.
Click on this link to see East New York Neighborhood Plan Section 3 online. (Scroll down the left side of the page to see different sections.)
Financial Assistance for Critical Repairs
Critical repairs are repairs that must be made in order to maintain the integrity of the buildings. One such item is upgrading the electrical system to code. This one item can cost thousands of dollars in contractor fees, material, and permits. Help with major maintenance is a good thing.
But what about the owner that doesn’t have this problem? What is their incentive to keep rents affordable?
Why owners really raise the rent
I have got to tell you that I have only had one owner that raised his rent because of repairs. He didn’t want to but he had no choice.
The remainder repair and upgrade their buildings because that is the way they are. They too, don’t raise the rent to compensate for this cost. They believed that their buildings are a reflection of them. And that a happy tenant pays the rent on time…well most of the time.
However, these same owners have raised their rents because of other reasons. Those reasons include the water bill, property tax and cost of living. Two of these items the city can alleviate. Done in the following manner the city could help lower rents and increase affordable housing.
Tweaking The East New York Neighborhood Plan
The ENY Neighborhood Plan makes a good start in addressing rents but falls short in reaching all homeowners. It needs to address an issue that all homeowners face. That issue is high taxes and water bills.
Homeowner Incentives
Giving the owner’s a break on either the water bill or the property tax as an incentive to keep rents affordable is one way to go. The owner would decide which incentive they wanted. The owner would then be required to rent apartments at an affordable rate.
Program Incentive
The same breaks with a small bonus would encourage owners to participate in programs. Of course, the city will have to improve the programs first. But done correctly owners would once again be inclined to take on programs.
In either case, the owners would be entitled to the breaks as long as their rentals remained affordable. Short term outlook is a return of affordable and program rentals. With homeowner assistance and an incentive package in effect. we could see a return to affordable rentals. As well as more homeowners participating in programs.
You have just read: East New York Neighborhood Plan Section 3
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and nothing stated here is legal advice. This article applies to the five boroughs of New York. All information deemed accurate but not guaranteed. Always check the real estate laws in your part of the country.
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