Private equity vs. NYC rent control laws

Fri, 09 May 2008 06:59:54 -0400

The New York Times notes that in the last four years, developers owned by private equity firms have bought almost 75,000 rent-regulated apartments in New York City. That's 6 percent of the city's 1.2 million such units. The big players are Vantage Properties, in partnership with Apollo Real Estate Advisors; the Pinnacle Group, a unit of Praedium Capital; and Normandy Real Estate Partners. Their growth strategy depends on higher rents. Now, some tenants have told the New York Times that they sense a strategy of harassment to get them to leave. The main tactic seems to be suits filed in housing court for various offenses. This is an interesting case of raw capitalism vs. municipal policies. Going to the media may prove to be a good move. We'll see.

For more:
- here's the article