The New York Division of Housing and Community Renewal held a public hearing with New Yorkers to discuss the state’s rules surrounding rent-stabilized apartments.  

The goal of the current proposals is to increase protection for tenants while simultaneously ensuring landlords are following the rules.  

The hearing started early Tuesday morning. The agency’s proposals are aimed at carrying out the 2019 Housing and Stability Tenant Protection Act, which extends rent regulation laws and makes them permanent.  

The proposal would also take a look at the "first rent" policy that allows landlords to combine rent-stabilized units, in turn making enabling them to charge a higher rent.  

Those behind the proposal are also attempting to codify a ruling that would allow family members to inherit apartments if the original tenant moves out. 

“These are the first proposed new regulations since 2014,” said Ellen Davidson, civil law reform unit staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society. “It's been a long time, and there have been a lot of changes both on the ground and how tenants and their landlords work together… it is necessary to make changes to the regulations.” 

The state will review the large amounts of testimony that the Division of Housing and Community Renewal has been accruing for months before deciding if changes are needed and publishing new regulations.