He found that he was being overcharged in New York and retaliated masterfully

A woman and her partner lived in a small, colorful rental apartment in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, a residential neighborhood made up of many 19th-century houses of great historical value, in New York. Daniel and his partner had lived in the property for more than two years and paid about US$2,650 per month. However, their luck changed when they asked for the rental history.

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After analyzing the document, the woman discovered that she was paying US$2,000 more than the previous tenant. This would not have been a problem, but in the case of that apartment the rent was recorded as fixed. That is, the increase was controlled by the state.

This discovery confirmed to Daniel that the owner of the apartment had deceived him, because before signing the rental agreement, the woman asked if by any chance the rent of the property was controlled by the government. After a legal battle the couple filed against the owner, the duo won US$150,000, according to records verified by Business Insider. Then, they left the apartment and with the money they got, they bought a property, which they never imagined to achieve in a state like New York.

“I didn’t trust the owners anymore, but I guess I lived in this world where I assumed that people, for the most part, were telling the truth about things,” the woman commented to the aforementioned media. His initiative to check the rental history of the apartment he was renting was a tip he received from a friend who was a real estate expert.

They want to replicate their “trick” with fixed fares

Recently, videos of other New Yorkers offering advice on how to check if their units are rent-stabilized have started popping up on social media. However, this process is not that simple and, if they find something, the process of claiming those rights may also be delayed.

The aforementioned media reported that the waiting time to get the history increased to 20 working days, while it was only ten before, as a result of the pressure received with the social networks.

New York City’s rent stabilization laws were enacted in 1969 and were designed to combat a shortage of affordable housing, according to a Reuters news agency report. In this way, owners’ interest in increasing costs is controlled and generally applies to buildings constructed before 1974 and containing at least six units.

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