New-York tribune., 1920-06-30
Say. Landlords
Plan to Ignore
New Rent Laws
Mayors Committee Tells
e of Impending Increases
. in Utter Disregard of
= Anti-Gouging Legislation
Notices Already Sent Out
Municipal Court Justices
~ Will Be Relied Upon
- -'' TO Put Check on Cougers

That landlords are preparing to pro-
ceed at the usual October turnover of
leases and apartments, as if the new
remedial rent laws had not been passed,
was the statement yesterday of Arthur
j. W. Hiliy, chairman of the Mayors
copimittee on rent profiteering, and
Leo Kenneth Mayer, IT'S counsel.
They declared that the new laws did
not seem to deter the landlords from
seeking exorbitant rents, and that they
were adopting devious methods to cir
cumvent the new laws. 1t was the
opinion of the committeeman that the
new laws had not relieved the housing
situation to any great extent. But
they are hopeful that the courts will
stand by.
"I have no doubt that with the
hearty cooperation of the Municipal
Court justices the October situation
will be met as was the May situation"
eaid Mr.. Hilly.
Hirshfield's Statement
David >Hirshfield, Commissioner of
Accounts, also issued statement in
which he said that the Municipal
Courts would be crowded as never be-
fore with landlord and tenant cases
around October 1. He said that land
lords already were notifying tenants
that their leases would not be renewed,
or that they might remain by paying
hxorbitant rents.
He declared that the present quietus
~ the situation was apparently the lull
that usually proceeds violent storm.
He pointed out that the Mayors COM
mittee would be glad to assist and ad-
wise tenants and landlords Of their
rights and remedies.
A Municipal Employees Building and
Loan Association was organized yester-
day in the Office of Frank Mann, Tene-
ment House Commissioner. The board
OF directors, besides Commissioner
Manu. sinclude: A. F. Mathews, Deputy
Comptroller Frank j. Prial, Jarvis S.
Hicks, treasurer of the Long Island
Savings Bank; Duncan McGuness,
Colin H. Woodward, secretary of the
Borough of Manhattan; William 3.
Walsh, Lawrence Mcclure, Edward P.
Doyle. secretary of the Mayors Hous-
ing Conference Committee; William F. |
Doyle, Chief of the Bureau of Fire
Prevention; William R. Bradley.
Captain 1John j. T. Waldron, of the
Fire Department; Adelaide L. NC !
Namara, of the Board of Health; Cor
poration Counsel John P. O'Brien and
II. H. Murdock. 4
scriptions for about 500 shares were
received before the organization was was
an hour old. Members will be per
mitted to make building loans for a
sum of which. their shares is 6 per
cent Phe purpose Of the association
is to aid municipal employees in own
ing their own homes. AS soon as the
directors sign the certificate of incor-
poration application for charter will
be made to the State Banking Depart-
ment:
Ordinance Code Amended
The Board of Aldermen yesterday
passed an amendment to the code of
ordinances providing that the walls of
houses forty feet cor less in height
might be reduced from twelve to eight
inches outside of the fire limits Alder
man Thomas M. Farley, chairman of
the building committee, said the build
ing superntendents Of all the boroughs
had agreed to the decrease, pointing
out that it would reduce the cost one
third ana encourage the construction
of small homes.
resolution was introduced at the
meeting of the board by Alderman Will
liam F. Quinn calling upon the Tene-
ment House Commissioner and the
Corporation Counsel to investigate and
take whatever action necessary to dis
courage the participation of the ten
ants Of apartment houses in so-called
cooperative schemes. Whereby they be-
come the owners of their apartments.
Such schemes, wherever they had
been tried out for anv 1enpth of +ime
had proved to be failures. the alderman
said, and were likely to result in a
total loss to the tenant of his invest