About Kathryn Lilly of Douglas Elliman

Isn't there a NY State law regarding Senior Citizens and rent increases? I would try and get the local politicans involved and try and get local TV involved. Good luck. This is the downside of the real estate "boom."

what does she have to do with elliman?

#2, SCRIE only applies in RS or RC situations.

Although I feel for the renter,...and I might be digressing a little but I don't think rent control and rent stabilized apartments are fair. First they should get rid of rent control all together and base rent stabilized apartment rents on the renter's income.

By "fair" you mean that all jobs and industries should pay exactly the same, right?

Or that my monthly mortgage payment on the apartment I just bought should be the same as the mortgage payment of my next-door neighbor with the identical apartment that he bought ten years ago?

Or that New York should have been allowed to crumble to nothingness (like Detroit, Philly, Baltimore and many other northern cities) because rent regulations weren't in place in those cities to entice the middle-class into staying through hard times?

#6 - By fair I mean people in rent stabilization should pay a proportion of their income and assets towards rent. That will weed out people who should not be in the program and leave the people who actually deserve to be in it alone.

All the rent controlled and rent stabilized tenants that I know all make over 100K. They all have vacation homes. The existing rent controlled/stabilization program doesn't work and is being abused.

#6-- New York City went into the shitter in the 70s and it still had rent control/stabilization. Look at the rents compared to per capita incomes in Philly and Detroit as against NYC. Much lower. Rent Control is not what has kept people in New York City. High paying jobs in Finance/Law, etc. is what has kept them here. Detroit and Philly never had the same industries we had here.

And what high paying industry do you think that 91 year old Guatemalan woman & her daughter work in?

I don't know her situation. I'm guessing from the OP she probably don't have a great income. Her daughter might have or might not have. If the rent she is paying does not cover the expenses why shouldn't the landlord raise the rent.

Why should the landlords of the world be forced to subsidize the supposed poor? Guatemalan or not, the landlord made an investment and seeks a return for that investment. Capitalism has its costs. I remind you that there is no constitutional right to housing in this country, nor is there one housing in New York City. Perhaps there is one in Guatemala. Further, this City has unbelievable social services that will help this person. A landlord should not be demonized for making a profit. Everyone has to work, not just Guatemalans.

#7 has it completely right!

I am all for most forms of capitalism and business #11 but the way you put things makes you sound like a real pig with no tact (and people wonder why some posters knock others on this board). Wait until your 91 and we'll see how physically capable you are to make a living.

Starting to sound like another sh*t on the poor thread.

#14 The insightful & most entertaining one has spoken. Woohoo!

#13-- True, but I plan meticulously so I won't have to rely on the whims of landlords or anyone else when I reach 91, should that happen. If everyone else had a similar line of thinking, we'd all be much better off. And call me a pig, but if you paid as much in taxes as I, you'd concur with me. The fact hat you take this stance tells me you don't. Am I worng?

I feel for these tenants but if the community felt so strongly about it,why did they not solicit donations to pay the increased rent for a specified period of time? Seems like they were looking to Katheryn Lilly to provide the charity that they were unwilling to offer themselves. The market for a rental property "is what it is" and I believe it is inequitable to expect a landlord to take less - shouldn't "less" then be offered to everyone? And what about the Landord's investment?

I don't understand the sympathy for this woman and her daughter. If she can't afford the rent, then she should move to someplace she can afford, be it Jersey, Staten Island, or Pennsylvania. I have no sympathy for people like her. There is no right to cheap housing in NYC or anywhere else. I frankly don't care if she has lived there for 23 minutes or 23 years - the rent is the rent and if you can't afford it, then move to someplace you can afford. Sure, I would like an apartment on 80th/5th, but I can't afford it and I don't expect anybody to subsidize it for me. If people on this board feel so bad for this woman, perhaps they should start paying her rent instead of expecting the landlord to subsidize it.

#18-- Bravo! She should move to Jersey. I'd suggest Short Hills, perhaps Alpine. Surely, she'll be able to afford something there. (sarcasm)

To OP Shosh - just wondering - what have YOU done for this woman and her daughter now that they have been evicted? Or do you just sit back and throw darts at others whom you deem to be uncharitable?

I think people don't understand how often tenants ask for special favors. As an owner of apartment buildings (not in NYC) I get asked for waivers, subsidies, modifications, etc. from pregnant women, disabled people, elderly and other people with lots of good stories. I believe in trying to do the right thing and if I believe the story and can help without it being too overbearing, I will generally say yes. But it's easier for me because I don't have rent controlled or rent stabilized buildings.

By creating rent control and rent stabiliztion regulations, New York politicians have mostly taken over these decisions and there is less leeway for landlords. If you've got people who shouldn't be in rent controlled apartments reducing a landlord's income, they're less likely to grant a favor to someone when they don't have.

I'm not saying that you want to rely on landlords to do the right thing, I'm just saying it's unlikely that politicians can ever create rent regulations that act in the best interests of tenants. Rent control and rent stabilization will lead to 3 things: 1) higher rents for everyone else, 2) people abusing the system by gaining a rent controlled apartment they shouldn't be entitled to, and 3) landlords less likely to do favors.

How about Newark, NJ. I own a building there and have an apartment available for rent.