Q. I signed a two-year lease for an unregulated apartment in Brooklyn in 2010. The management company recently sent a lease renewal, and has increased the rent by 12.5 percent. This seems an excessively high increase, and I cannot believe this represents true market rate. Is there anything I can do if the management company refuses to negotiate?
A. Dov Treiman, a Manhattan landlord-tenant lawyer, said that in an unregulated apartment, the landlord can charge whatever he wants when it comes time to renew. “The question of whether the new rent is the true market rate is legally irrelevant,” Mr. Treiman said. But he says many landlords try to be reasonable and might be willing to negotiate.
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