Senior Citizens’ Special Rights

 

The law grants certain exemptions from rent increases to tenants who are senior citizens.

If a New York City tenant or tenant’s spouse is 62 years of age or over (living in a rent regulated apartment) and the combined household income is at or below a certain income level ($28,000 per year effective July 1, 2008 or $29,000 per year effective July 1, 2009) and they are paying at least 1/3 of their income toward their rent, the tenant may apply for the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE). In New York City, the Department for the Aging (DFTA) administers the SCRIE program. In the counties outside of New York City, covered by the Emergency Tenant Protection Act (ETPA), the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) administers the SCRIE program. Outside of New York City, SCRIE is a local option, and communities have different income eligibility limits and regulations.

If a New York City tenant qualifies for this program, the tenant is exempt from future rent guidelines increases, Maximum Base Rent increases, fuel cost adjustments, MCI increases, and increases based on the owner’s economic hardship. New York City senior citizen tenants may also carry this exemption from one apartment to another upon moving, upon the proper application being made to DFTA.

Other rights for New York City senior citizens include:

1. If a building is being converted to cooperative or condominium ownership under an Eviction Plan, an “eligible senior citizen” can nevertheless refuse to purchase the apartment and remain in occupancy as a fully protected rent regulated tenant with the fight to either lease renewal or protections against eviction.
2. “Eligible senior citizens” are tenants who are primary residents in the  apartment and are at least 62 years of age or have a spouse 62 years of age or older on the date the Attorney General accepts the Eviction Plan for filing.
3. To take advantage of this benefit, an eligible senior citizen in New York City must elect, on forms provided by the Attorney General, to become a “non-purchasing” tenant within 60 days of the date that the Final Offering Plan is presented to the tenants. Outside New York City, there is no formal election requirement.
4. An owner cannot evict a tenant from rent stabilized apartments in New York City for the purpose of owner occupancy when either the tenant or the tenant’s spouse is a senior citizen, unless the owner provides an equivalent or superior apartment at the same or lower regulated rent in an area near the tenant’s present apartment.
5. For rent stabilized apartments outside New York City and rent controlled apartments statewide, an owner cannot evict a tenant, where any member of the tenant’s household is a senior citizen, on the basis of owner occupancy.
6. New York City senior citizens with a currently valid Rent Increase Exemption Order are not required to pay any portion of a fuel cost increase that would raise their total rent to over 1/3 of their household disposable income. Senior citizens who apply for and are granted a SCRIE order within 90 days after receipt of the owner’s fuel cost adjustment report, are retroactively exempt from paying any portion of the most recent fuel cost adjustments that would raise their total rent to over 1/3 of their total household disposable income.
7. A senior citizen may terminate his/her lease, without penalty, in order to move into a health care facility or senior citizen housing complex. If the senior citizen terminates the lease in order to move into a health care facility, the owner must receive at least 30 days notice, and 60 days notice to the owner is required if the tenant moves into a senior citizen housing complex

Source:

Met Council  http://www.metcouncil.net and Rent Guidelines Board