Key Words For Rent Debate

New York Daily News, June 16, 1997

Rent Stabilization: Covers 1,014,751 apartments in the city and an estimated 60,000 in the suburbs.

Rent Control: Applies to apartments in buildings built before Feb. 1, 1947, and occupied by the same tenant or a family member since June 30, 1971. There are 70,572 rent-controlled units in the city. They are not effected by the current battle. But 8,040 apartments in Westchester, Nassau and upstate counties are.

Unregulated: There are about 1 million apartments in the city that are not subject to any rent regulations.

Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption: Some elderly New Yorkers making less than $20,000 a year receive this subsidy to help cover rent increases. Seniors in rent-controlled apartments are not affected by the battle.

Vacancy Decontrol: Lifts rent regulations as tenants move out of their apartments, die or are evicted.

Luxury Decontrol: Ends rent-hike restrictions once rents hit $2,000 a month or household income reaches $250,000 or higher for two previous years.

Succession: A provision that allows rent-regulated apartments to be passed on to relatives and domestic partners who live in the units.

Rent Escrow: Landlords want the state to require tenants to put rent payments in a bank account during housing disputes.