(a) Coverage.
(1) These rent guidelines apply to units of an IMD, as defined in § 281 of Art. 7-C, with residential Occupants qualified for protection pursuant to the article, who
(i) do not have a lease or rental agreement in effect on the date of this order, December 21, 1982 or
(ii) whose leases or rental agreements are in effect on December 21, 1982, but expire before the IMD's compliance with the safety and fire protection standards of Art. 7-B of the MDL. These guidelines apply only to IMD's which have registered with the Loft Board.
(2) "Lease or rental agreement in effect" means:
(i) a written lease or rental agreement;
(ii) an oral agreement for a rental period of one (1) year or less, provided that
(A) there has been a change from the previous rent, confirmed by rent checks tendered by the residential Occupant and accepted by the Owner, Landlord or Responsible Party within the year before this order or
(B) there has been a substantial change in the level of services agreed to be provided within one year before this order.
(3) For time limitations on filing Applications for rent overcharges, see 29 RCNY § 1-21(a)(4).
(b) Effective date. The effective date of these rent increases for a registered IMD will be the next regular rent payment date following December 21, 1982, or following the expiration of the lease or rental agreement, whichever is later. If an Application for registration is received by the Loft Board on or before January 31, 1983, and written request for the increase is made of the residential Occupant within thirty (30) days of the issuance of an IMD registration number, such increase shall be retroactive to the effective date of the increase. If an Application for registration is received by the Loft Board after January 31, 1983, and written request for the increase is made of the residential Occupant within thirty (30) days of the issuance of an IMD registration number, and the lease or rental agreement has expired, such increase shall be retroactive to the first regular rent payment date following submission of the registration Application. At the option of the residential Occupant, such retroactive increases may be paid over the same number of Months as they accrued. Except as indicated above, the rent increases shall apply prospectively only.
(c) Amount of increases. For purposes of these rent guidelines, the following percentages shall be calculated upon the total rent for the residential Occupant, including both base rent and Escalators, as that term is defined in 29 RCNY § 2-06.3. Such Escalator provisions that relate to gas, electricity and steam charges are excluded from this definition of total rent. These utility Escalators, when based on a fair calculation of the residential Occupant's usage, shall be the only Escalators permitted following the effective date of the rent increase provided they were part of the lease or rental agreement in effect on December 21, 1982. Rent levels for units covered by this order shall reflect no more than the following maximum percentage increases, calculated as of the effective date of this order to such unit:
(1) For units where the last increase in total rent or a utility Escalators pursuant to a lease or rental agreement tendered by the Tenant and accepted by the Owner, Landlord or Responsible Party was:
(i) Subsequent to December 31, 1979: the maximum permissible increase shall be seven (7) percent of the total rent as defined above.
(ii) Between January 1, 1977 and December 31, 1979: the maximum permissible increase shall be twenty-two (22) percent of the total rent defined above.
(iii) Before January 1, 1977: the maximum permissible increase shall be thirty-three (33) percent of the total rent as defined above.
(2) For units which have had no rent increases since the inception of the lease or rental agreement between the residential Occupant and Owner, Landlord, or Responsible Party, the maximum percentage increases contained in category (i), (ii), and (iii) above shall be based upon the date of inception of the lease or rental agreement.
(3) For units where the current or most recent lease or rental agreement does not contain any Escalator provisions and where the last rent increase was not an Escalator adjustment, a surcharge of two (2) percent for category (i), four (4) percent for category (ii), and six (6) percent for category (iii) may be added to the percentage increases. These rent increases shall be a permanent part of the rent.
(d) Vacancy allowance. The Loft Board reserves the right to address a vacancy allowance when it discusses fixture fee procedures.
(e) Subtenancy allowance. The Loft Board reserves the right to address a subtenancy allowance when it discusses coverage procedures.
(Amended City Record 3/1/2023, eff. 3/31/2023)