Judge Shoots Down Rent Increases, Could Bring Wave of Rebates

We should have known that after the craziness of last year's Rent Guidelines Board meeting? where board members had to wear headphones to hear each other over the crowd?we hadn't heard the last of the RGB's ominously named Order No. 40, which calls for supplemental increases on tenants paying under $1,000 per month on apartments they've lived in for six years or more. And we haven't! A state supreme court judge ruled last week that the RGB's increase of $45 for those under-$1,000 renters amounts to a "poor tax." Or, as she put it, "Order No. 40 penalizes tenants for failing to move in a city that has virtually no affordable housing." If the decision stands, about 300,000 rent-stabilized tenants could receive rebates and rent reductions. But the city plans to appeal the ruling, so we'd advise not waiting by the mailbox.
· Ruling Could Mean Lower Rent for 300,000 Tenants in New York [NYT]
· Rent Guidelines Board coverage [Curbed]