This introduction to the New York City Rent Guidelines Board covers the structure, function and history of the Board and its role in the rent stabilization system. Some attention has also been given to the broader regulatory environment affecting all residential landlord/tenant relations within the City.

• composition of the Board, terms of office, eligibility for appointment
• vacancies and removal
• conflicts of interest & financial disclosure
• Board member compensation
• bylaws of the Board
• the Rent Guidelines Board staff & use of consultants
• the Board's web site: housingnyc.com
• legal status of the Board

• rent regulation prior to the establishment of the Board
• post-World War I controls
• the Great Depression
• World War II Era Controls
• rent stabilization
• Chapter 576
• the Omnibus Housing Act of 1983
• the Rent Regulation Reform act of 1993
• the Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1997
• noteworthy aspects of selected court cases
• the constitutionality of rent regulation
• the U.S. Supreme Court's treatment of rent control laws
• challenges to rent control laws before the NY Court of Appeals

Main Features of Rent Stabilization

• The landlord/tenant context - objectives, enforcement and primary provisions of the RSL, ETPA, RS Code and related laws
• affordability
• habitability
• security of tenure
• fair returns
• the commensurate rent formula
• protection against tenant abuses/subletting, lease assignment, succession rights, primary residence
• Administration of rents under rent stabilization: the role of the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR)
• Major Capital Improvements (MCI's) and individual apartment improvements
• hardship rent increases
• Fair Market Rent appeals
• overcharge proceedings
• other adjustments in rent (air conditioners, failure to maintain services, failure to register, vacancy and income deregulation)

Duties of the Rent Guidelines Board

• establishment of the basic rent adjustments for renewal leases in apartments, hotels and lofts
• special orders
• sublet allowances
• supplemental rent adjustments
• special guidelines & decontrolled units
• electrical inclusion adjustment
• buildings with J-51 or 421-a tax abatements
• stabilizers
• other - fractional terms, escalator clauses
• exemptions to orders
  warehousing exemptions
  registration exemption/hotels
  resolutions
• research & mandated considerations
• economic condition of the residential real estate industry
         Price Index of Operating Costs (PIOC)
         Price Index Projections
         RGB Rent Index
         Income & Expense Study
• the cost and availability of financing:
          the Mortgage Survey
• overall supply of housing and overall vacancy rates:
         the Housing Supply Report
• data from the cost of living indices:
          the Income and Affordability Study
• other data: summary of special research from 1989-2000
• meetings, hearings and administrative procedures
  meetings 
  hearings
  administrative procedures
• voting meetings - order of business
• final orders and explanatory statements

• Table I New York City's Housing Emergency -- Net Rental Vacancy Rates
• Table II Highlights of Rent Regulation in New York
• Chart I Rent Regulation and Construction of New Housing
• Chart II The Overcrowding Problem Today
• Table III Percent of Gross Income Paid in Rent for all Renters and Stabilized Renters in New York City, 1970-99
• Table IV Commensurate Rent Increases as reported to the RGB
• Table V Supplemental Rent Adjustments in RGB Orders, 1983-2000
• Chart III Percent Change in PIOC and the Core PIOC, 1982-2000
• Chart IV Ratio of O&M Costs to NOI for each Dollar of Income
• Chart V Average Interest Rates for New and Refinanced Mortgages, 1981-2000
• Table VI NYC Median Stabilized Renter Household Income, 1974-1998
• Chart VI Stabilized Median Rent Burdens, NYC, 1970-99

• A. Rent Stabilization Law §26-510
• A1. Local Law 11
• B. Board members since 1969
• B.1 Executive Directors since 1980
• C. Public Officers Law §3 and §30
• D. Oath of Office
• D1. Board Member written statement of eligibility
• D2. Financial Disclosure form (COIB) sample page
• D3. Sign-in sheet for Board Members
• D4. Per Diem requisition form
• E. NYC Charter §2604(b) & (c) Conflict of Interest
• F. Bylaws of the Board
• G. Payment History of the Price Index Contract
• H. Board Resolution Delegating Contracting Authority to the Chair
• I. RGB Employee Manual
• J. The Commensurate Rent Index formula
• K. History of Income/Expense issue (Table 14 memo)
• K1. Income & Expense review 1993
• L. Multiple Dwelling Law §286
• M. Chart of previous Apartment Orders, 1969-2002
• M1. Chart of previous Hotel Orders, 1969-2002
• N. Apartment Order #33
• N1. Explanatory Statement to Apartment Order #33
• N2. Hotel Order #31
• N3. Explanatory Statement to Hotel Order #31
• O. Rent Stabilization Law §26-513
• P. Excerpts from J-51 and 421-a regulations
• Q. Hotel Study 1991
• Q1. Hotel Study update 1992
• R. 'What to do with the Price Index,' Dr. Blackburn, February 2000
• S. RGB Staff price projections 1975-2000
• T. Price Index changes and stabilized rent increases 1969-1999
• U. The RGB Rent Index
• V. Consumer Price Index and stabilized rent increases 1969-1999
• W. Open Meeting Law (selected sections)
• X. NYC Charter §§1041-45 (from City Administrative Procedure Act)
• Y. 1999 Housing and Vacancy Survey summary