Posted on 02/24/2015 3:46:43 PM PST by dennisw
Ikezi's Hell's Kitchen penthouse located at 450 W 42nd Street is rent stabilized, so Ikezi was paying two-thirds of the $9,000-plus market price, according to the New York Post.
On Airbnb, Ikezi listed the corner unit for $649 a night, equaling $18,172 a month - nearly triple what he pays in rent, according to court documents.
The two-bedroom and two-bathroom penthouse offered guests access to the building's amenities such as: private fitness club by Equinox, heated indoor lap pool, full-size indoor basketball and volleyball courts, terraces, outdoor and indoor screening rooms, internet cafe and a Dog City pet spa.
Henry Ikezi, 35, and his wife evicted from their Hell's Kitchen apartment for violating city's Rent Stabilization code after listing it on Airbnb
He pays two-thirds of the $9,000-plus market price A listing was found by Ikezi on the rental site advertising it for $649 a night - triple of what he pays monthly in rent, or $18,172
On Airbnb, he wrote amenities included a private fitness club by Equinox, a heated indoor lap pool and full-size indoor basketball and volleyball courts Judge said Ikezi cannot profit from renting the apartment - while getting a break on the rent Ruling is likely to cause shivers for thousands of New Yorkers who advertise their rent-stabilized apartments on Airbnb
Henry Ikezi, wife, child must move out of their two-bedroom apartment by February 28, or they will be forced out by a city marshal.
The decision comes under a Manhattan Housing Court judge's ruling earlier this week - the first to evict a tenant under the city's rent control code.
The court case is likely to send shivers through tens of thousands of New Yorkers who make extra cash by listing their rent-stabilized apartments on Airbnb and similar housing share sites.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
PHOTOS at the source ...luxury digs!!! In NYC!!!
Not a bad scam, really. Any renter paid the price willingly. The scam is against the owner stuck in a force-placed RC agreement.
Rent control for $9000 apartments...
The corruption goes deep...
When I was on a condpo board, unit leasing was a constant problem. Despite a six month minimum , owners would use Air BnB and VRBO to get multiples of market rent. The board would monitor our complex on the internet for advertising.
The parade of strangers rolling suitcases and cleaning service company employees in their uniform was too much.
When the expectation of strangers is no longer limited, the residence becomes a hotel suite, not a home.
From what I read....the renter was trying to abuse / get around the law. As much as I think that law is wrong.
Similar rentals in Dallas/Ft Worth:
http://dallas.craigslist.org/search/apa?bedrooms=2&bathrooms=2&query=indoor+pool
Since the building opened in 2011, this is obviously a 421a. So they would have set the rents at the market rate in 2011, and agreed to rent control in exchange for property tax abatements and probably zoning concessions. Now they’re stuck with $6700 when they could get $9000, but at least they still are paying minimal property tax, and will until 2021.
The views are spectacular, the decor not so much.
This greedy trend is diminishing the housing stock. The landlords are often in on it: they get a higher rent under the table in exchange for overlooking the lawbreaking, and of course must be in on any renovations that are needed to break up an old seven-room prewar apartment into little hotel-room-sized units.
The only way to fight it is with secret renters, but who has the time and money for that?
In addition to destroying housing stock, the practice brings in people who are not part of the “community” of the building, such as it is. They are not your neighbors. And because of the collusion of the landlords, you can’t complain about them effectively.
I’d be cool with this if she wasn’t getting a huge break on her rent. She should pay the actual rent and continue to rent the apartment out. What she is doing is fraud.
I know of a woman who was able to live in a decent rent controlled apartment for 400 dollars a month or some crazy number and the owner had no recourse at all to raise the rent or anything. She finally died in December and the owner was thrilled....I know that sounds awful but when you are basically bankrupting the owners what can you do.
View? Who the #311 wants to see dirty skyscrapers and a filthy city out their window?
But it seems like the obverse of the rent control is the property-tax control that goes with it?
I ran into a guy who was doing this in the Bay Area with hundreds of properties.
Every one of them was violating the lease agreement of not allowing sub-lease.
NYC enjoys their fascism
section 8 probably pays it these days
It’s the building owner & city that decides all of that
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