[Wolfehunter]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

Rent control policies have been in effect in NYC since 1943. I find it hard to believe that the landlord was not aware of this fact when he became the owner of the building in 2006. If he went into the "landlord business" without taking into consideration how a rent-regulation system that has been in place for over 60 years would affect his income, he has no one to blame but himself if the profits he wants or needs didn't exactly come pouring in.

Would you buy an apartment building and expect to support your family with the monthly income from renting out those apartments, without finding out how much income that was likely to be? For a rent-controlled building, I don't think the numbers are going to be all that difficult to crunch. They are what they are, and unless you have tenants vacating apartments (which cannot be counted on), they are only going to change on a pre-set schedule and at a pre-set max/min amount.

I have never lived anywhere near NYC, have never been there, and the first words that popped in my head when I saw the article were "rent control."

So, yeah, if someone in NYC buys a rental property in NYC that is subject to rent control regulations, and then can't make a living off of it - well, I'm thinking that fact would have been obvious to anyone who bothered to do his/her homework. If this landlord did his homework, he had a pretty good idea of what his profit margin was going to be going into the deal, and should've known whether it was enough to meet his needs and those of his family. If he didn't do his homework, he probably shouldn't be trying to make a living off of being a landlord (if that is indeed the case). It makes me feel sorry for anyone who is depending on him to bring home the bacon, but when it comes to doling out sympathy I have to say the landlord is pretty far down on the list.

Landlord do what they do because 99% of the time it works. This time this guy fought back. He's a fighter. All his life he's a fighter. He doesn't know defeat. Landlord is a sleesy ass-hole who thinks he can get away with whatever he want.