NYC's small landlords say they won't survive Mamdani plan to freeze rent

"They bought or inherited aging apartment buildings, hoping to bring home a little extra cash as property values grew and they fulfilled the dreams of their immigrant parents. For decades, the investments appeared to pay off, despite stringent rules restricting rental increases for apartment buildings constructed before 1974. But in recent years, as maintenance and insurance bills surged, the problems added up. Rental incomes largely stagnated even as the costs to replace boilers, roofs, windows and lead-soaked walls soared, leaving property owners in the red."

"Now, with the city's political landscape shifting around them, New York landlords say they are at their breaking point as Mayor Zohran Mamdani begins to implement even more aggressive tenant-friendly policies. The democratic socialist easily prevailed in the November election by tapping into the cost-of-living worries of New Yorkers, two-thirds of whom rent. He vowed to freeze what tenants in the city's 1 million rent-stabilized apartments pay monthly."

""Why is he targeting us?" asked Valentina Gojcaj, who owns two rent-stabilized apartment buildings in the Bronx. "This is my investment and something I expect to retire on. What happens to me when I can no longer afford to run these buildings?" Gojcaj's concerns reflect a broader fraying of relations between landlords and the Mamdani administration that could have nationwide implications for the debate over affordable housing,"

Small landlords in New York who bought or inherited aging, rent-stabilized apartment buildings have seen maintenance and insurance costs surge while rental income has largely stagnated. Longstanding rent-stabilization rules limit rent increases for pre-1974 buildings, constraining revenues even as boilers, roofs, windows and lead remediation require costly replacement. The recently elected mayor is pursuing tenant-friendly measures, including a promised rent freeze and hearings targeting landlord practices, intensifying landlord fears about affordability and property viability. Some experts view the aging rental stock as essential to long-term housing affordability, and housing advocates call for relief amid widespread cost pressures.

Read at The Washington Post