Publication

Economic Challenge for the Rent Guidelines Board

This paper lays out the long-term relationship between net operating income (NOI) and the sustainability and quality of rent stabilized apartments. It then examines how best to use the tools and data available to the RGB for its deliberations. Finally, it suggests two ways that the RGB could adapt to the HSTPA era when setting guidelines for annual rent increases (or possibly even decreases in a deflationary world). One is to have increases in Consumer Price Index be a starting point for setting guideline rental increases, the other is to make guideline increases based on Consumer Price Index automatic, leaving the Rent Guidelines Board to simply monitor whether actual trends require further adjustments.