Rent Board Backs Hikes

New York, NY —

Rent stabilized tenants will see rent increases of 4.5 percent on one-year leases and 8.5 percent on two-year leases. Last night's raucous vote was interrupted several times by angry tenants who waved signs that called the Rent Guidelines Board a sham. They squared off with landlords holding their own posters that read "help small owners." The two sides yelled at each other and tenants blew deafening whistles that caused the meeting to temporarily stop.

Nelly Hester Bailey runs a tenant group in Harlem and said landlords are not probed enough.

BAILEY: They ask for these increases based on hardships but they never open their books to prove the merit of their claim.

REPORTER: Landlords say their fuel prices, property taxes and water and sewer costs are more than they can handle. Many were especially satisfied with a provision that sets minimum rent increases of $45 for one-year leases and $85 for two-year leases. The new rule applies only to tenants who've been in their apartments more than six years.