N.Y.C. Rent Freeze Wouldn’t Spell Doom for Most Landlords, Report Says
The New York Times • • business
Key Points:
- Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s proposal to freeze rents on rent-stabilized apartments has been criticized by the real estate industry as potentially bankrupting landlords and harming New York City’s economy.
- A Moody’s analysis found that a five-year rent freeze would put only 6 percent of landlords at risk of mortgage default, as most landlords could still raise rents on market-rate units.
- Darrell Wheeler of Moody’s noted the impact would be incremental but acknowledged some landlords, especially those owning only stabilized units, could face economic difficulties.
- The New York Apartment Association criticized the Moody’s report for focusing on a limited subset of newer buildings with large portfolios and some receiving city tax breaks.
- There are nearly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments in New York City, highlighting the scale of the potential impact of any rent freeze policy.