WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020 at 8 PM to learn how we can make it happen.
WHY should Albany end Major Capital Improvement increases?
Some highlights:
Landlords have plenty of other reasons to improve buildings (other than collecting MCI increases).
- Energy efficiency saves landlords money. So new boilers, roofs, windows, plumbing, electrical wiring, etc., can save landlords $$$.
- Preserved or increased value of their property. Why should tenants pay for that?
- Legal obligation to provide tenants with safe, habitable apartments and common areas. NYC ordered that our balconies and facade be maintained, for example. (The rest of us don't need to get paid to obey the law; why should landlords?)
The Rent Guidelines Board already calculates in the costs of maintaining a rental building when it sets the rent increases (if any) each year. Why should landlords be compensated twice?
MCI increases benefit mainly large landlords. From 2000 to 2014, 70% of MCI applications received by the State's housing agency came from landlords who owned more than 150 units.
It won't hurt the construction industry since MCI jobs are a tiny slice of the pie. In 2014, MCI costs were only 3/10ths of one percent of the total amount spent on construction. So they won't affect construction jobs.
