No Bailout for Tenants: Board Hikes Rents

Just because a lot of you are making less money (or will be making less, in your New Depression jobs), and just because real estate is alleged to be a buyer's market, doesn't mean your rent won't be raised. The Rent Guidelines Board has recommended its latest rent hikes: 4.5 percent for one-year leases, 4 percent to 7.5 percent for two-year leases. As happens every year, the landlords complained that their costs are going up, and the Board "compromised" by giving them only most of what they want. Mayor Bloomberg predicted that this year's increases would be lower than they had been in the first year of this recession ("RELIEF FOR RENTERS!" thumbs-upped the New York Post), and he was right, though barely: the hike on multi-year leases is one point lower than last year's, and the one-year hike is the same. The final vote will be in June, and the hikes, which almost certainly will pass, go into effect in October.