Hey, there. I’m Sally, and I’m a tenants’ rights attorney living here in Bushwick. Bushwick Daily asked me to weigh in on some issues that affect Bushwick tenants, so I’m going to respond to a reader question that came in recently. (See disclaimer below–I AM NOT YOUR ATTORNEY).
If you’ve been living in this neighborhood for any length of time, you’ve either had or heard of plenty of crappy landlords. Since the demand for apartments here has risen so dramatically, these dirtbags will do anything to raise the rents. They don’t lose sleep evicting old ladies, families with 7 children, or just nice people who happen to have low rent. Dealing with these guys compels me to try to get information about tenants’ rights out there as much as possible since the less people know, the more damage a ruthless landlord can do.
A lot of the newer Bushwick residents are being overcharged by a lot and don’t know it. That’s because there are still a lot of rent-stabilized units out there, and no matter what your landlord says or what your lease says, if your unit is rent stabilized, you’re entitled to only minimal rent increases. This actually happens so often that it’s one of the reasons I decided to get on the internet to talk about these things. I get really sick of answering individual questions about what the law is when I’m out and about in the neighborhood, which is inevitably what happens if I tell anyone what I do.
