Q: I rent an apartment in a Central Harlem townhouse. The building has three units, but I know that the landlord owns other properties, which are most likely registered under different LLCs. My lease is year-to-year, causing me a terrible amount of worry. New York’s Good Cause Eviction law exempts landlords who own fewer than 10 properties, and I just don’t know how many my landlord actually owns. How can I figure that out, so I can confirm that I’m protected by the law and not subject to punitive rent increases?
A: The Good Cause Eviction law, which was passed last year, limits rent increases and prevents arbitrary evictions in certain market-rate apartments. But as you point out, the law has exceptions, including apartments in condo or co-op buildings and certain owner-occupied buildings. In New York City, it also exempts “small” landlords — those who own 10 units or fewer anywhere in the state. (In every other municipality that has adopted this law, the “small landlord” definition is no more than one unit.)
So, the extent of your landlord’s holdings can indeed determine whether you are covered. Unfortunately, said Cea Weaver, the director of the nonprofit Housing Justice For All, “It’s not really easy to look this up in publicly available data.”
The government doesn’t have a database for you, but Ms. Weaver’s organization and JustFix, another housing nonprofit, have published one at goodcausenyc.org. You can enter your address and answer a few questions to get more information about your landlord. “It gives you information you need to make an informed decision about how to negotiate for a fairer lease term,” Ms. Weaver said.
The two nonprofits built the database using information from government data sources, and it can give you a good idea of whether your apartment is covered. The results won’t prove your case in court, but they could lead you to documents that will. (JustFix also has a “who owns what” database that can help renters.)
If you want to look up limited liability corporations, some information is available through the New York’s Department of State. Otherwise, information about each landlord’s statewide holdings is not readily available.
However, the law requires landlords to let tenants know if they are exempt from the law. So press yours for an answer.
Good Cause Eviction is a defense in court against eviction proceedings, but hopefully it doesn’t get that far. Wait to see what your rent increase will be, and if it’s too high, use the nonprofit tools to negotiate for a fair increase.
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The post Don’t Trust Your Landlord? Here’s How You Can Find More Information. appeared first on New York Times.
