Metropolitan Council on Housing Metropolitan Council on Housing ...

"In theory, all tenants have the same rights, but the repercussions are different," says Mariano Muñoz, an organizer at the Met Council on Housing.

My landlord, for instance, who's been harassing me for complaining about a lack of running water, could choose not to renew my lease: I'm what's known as a free-market tenant.

"If free-market tenants stand up for their rights over the course of their lease, it could backfire on them. Rent-controlled and -stabilized tenants are in a better position to fight," says Muñoz. Some laws are on the books to protect free-market tenants from vengeful landlords and housing discrimination, but they're hard to implement.

There are about 60,000 rent-controlled units in NYC, and another million are rent-stabilized, alongside several million free-market tenants. If you're rent-controlled, you're what's called a "statutory tenant," and have no lease, though you are subject to the rent increases that the city sets every other year or so. A rent-stabilized tenant does have a lease, but has the right to automatic lease renewal. If your building was constructed before 1947?or you were there before 1971? and has six or more units, you may be rent-stabilized. If your building was constructed before 1971 and has four or more units, you may be rent-controlled. One key factor is what you pay: If your rent is above $2000 (and you make over $175,000) you are automatically a free-market tenant. Because of things like the vacancy increase (every time a controlled or stabilized apartment is vacated, the landlord is allowed to raise the rent 20%) and high MBR (maximum base rent) factors, each year the number of controlled or stabilized apartments shrinks.

For over 40 years, the Met Council on Housing, a citywide tenant union, has worked to strengthen tenant protections and help tenants understand and advocate for their rights. A membership-based organization, it's funded mostly by fund drives and members' yearly dues.

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 1:30 to 5 p.m., people can call Met Council's tenant hotline for free advice. Every month, Met Council publishes a newspaper in English and Spanish called Tenant/Inquilino. On Monday nights from 8 to 9 p.m., the organization sponsors Housing Notebook, a radio show on WBAI, 99.5 FM: Host Scott Sommer discusses current housing-related events and answers questions about tenants rights. At 61 E. 4th St., there's a walk-in clinic where people can bring their housing concerns. When attempting to effect change on the policy level, Met Council mobilizes its significant membership base to make phone calls and show up to demonstrations. The group often acts as an umbrella group under which various tenant associations coalesce.

Muñoz points to two interrelated issues facing housing organizers: repealing the Urstadt Law and the MBR formula. Every two years, city agencies decree an increase for rent-controlled tenants. This year they voted for an MBA factor of 17.2%, which will have most rent-controlled tenants paying an increase of 7.5% each year?the highest in almost 30 years. The image of the rent-controlled tenant paying $200 a month for a SoHo loft is true of only a fraction of tenants. In reality, most people who are rent-controlled or -stabilized are low- or middle-income, and many are elderly?not a population that can easily absorb such rent hikes.

As it stands, politicians in Albany who have never been known to care about the needs of NYC residents are the ones who make decisions about rent laws. This is thanks to a Rockefeller-era law known as Urstadt, which prohibits city officials from changing NYC rent regulations. Urstadt was passed in 1971 alongside other glaringly anti-tenant provisions, which were reversed within a few years. But Urstadt has endured. Met Council is working to make home rule an issue in both the 2005 mayoral and 2006 gubernatorial campaigns.

While it would be insulting to the many housing organizations and people suffering from lack of housing to say that it's not an issue in NYC, the effects of the city's stifling real-estate lobby are clear. Tenants in this city tend to struggle in isolation under oppressive landlords and laws instead of fighting back en masse. Muñoz stresses the importance of tenants organizing and working together?both those who are stabilized or controlled and those who are free-market.

"There are ways to work together," he says. "If rent-stabilized tenants advocate for building-wide repairs, everyone benefits."

When I ask him when all of the rent-controlled and -stabilized apartments will disappear, his reply is quick: "That's up to the tenants. That's up to the people to organize."

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