AAOC urging building owners to attend public hearings June 8, 16, 22

The Apartment Owners Advisory Council (AAOC) is urging apartment building owners to show up and speak out at three public hearings and meetings this June. Apartment building owners in Westchester County will face their toughest challenges yet as they gear-up for this year's presentations before the Westchester County Rent Guidelines Board, and it is essential that landlords speak out about the issues that they face at hearings on June 8, June 16, and June 22. Albert Annunziata, executive director of the AOAC, a major industry division of The Building & Realty Institute of Westchester, which represents over 300 owners of primarily small-to-medium-sized apartment buildings averaging about 20-units per building, was blunt in his assessment. "Frankly, the deck is stacked against us and marked as well. Not only do we have unique challenges with the process here in Westchester, but we also have to contend with the tremendous influence of New York City's rent guidelines annual ritual and the Mayor's vociferous demands for a rent freeze, regardless of the facts and the costs incurred by landlords." With more than a million units under rent stabilization throughout the five boroughs, what happens in New York City inevitably influences the guideline decisions in Westchester, often to the detriment of landlords here. Westchester County has approximately 35,000 apartments that fall under a broad body of regulations and administrative rulings coming from the Emergency Tenant Protection Act (ETPA) of 1974. ETPA exclusively applies to most rental housing built prior to that date, indicating an aged housing supply easily going on 70, 80 or even 90-years old. "For such housing, it has become a constant matter of vigilance, maintenance, repair and improvement on the part of the landlord. Yet the state seems to go out of its way to make it all but financially untenable for owners to do what's required to keep these buildings in proper order," said Annunziata. Carmelo Milio, chairman of the AOAC and an owner and manager of buildings in Westchester, urged landlords in the county to come out in support of their industry at the upcoming Rent Guidelines Board hearings and meetings. "I am calling on all responsible Westchester building owners to show-up, speak-out and convey your own personal stories about the challenges of providing and maintaining the aging rental housing stock in this county to the nine members of the Rent Guidelines Board," said Milio. "Everything has become more costly and complicated in the ownership and management of apartment buildings in Westchester," continued Milio. "Leases used to be simple and straightforward, water rates used to be low, major capital improvements - once approved and properly made - were never subject to retroactive scrutiny and challenge. These are among a litany of other concerns. Coupled with annual rent guidelines that often do not even meet the increases in the consumer price index, you have a recurring crisis in housing, year after year" said Milio. The AOAC urges Westchester landlords to attend the following critical Rent Guidelines Board meetings: * June 8 at 7pm: Public Hearing at the White Plains City Hall, 255 Main Street. * June 16, 7pm: Public Meeting at the White Plains Library Meeting Room, 100 Martine Ave. * June 22, 7pm: Final Public Meeting at White Plains City Hall, 255 Main Street. For more information, landlords can contact The Apartment Owners Advisory Council of Westchester at 914-273-0730.