Evening star., 1925-03-19
CLAIM RENT LAW
PROVED FAILURE
Hit Modest Incomes-Re-
tarded Housing Progress,
Commission Says.

Despite the existence of the New
York rent laws and the State Housing
Commission, New York City Is faced
with housing problem that is stead
ily growing worse as far as tho ctti-
zens of moderate incomes are con
Cerned il is stated IN a report recent
ly compiled by the State Housing
Commission and forwarded to the
Legislature a few days ago by Gov.
Smith
The only remedy Il sees would b.
the extensive use Of public credits for
the financing OF large building prof
cots to meet the demands the com
mission announced. It is necessary
to get an amendment to the State
con institution to allow the State and
counties To advance funds for the
erection Of such dwellings, and this
the report recommends
While there Is some difference OF
opinion in regard to the merits OF thu
New York rent law by the people OF
that State, the report Of the commits
sion shows that the situation In re-
gard to rental units available for
two-thirds OF the population OF the
metropolis IS steadily growing worse.
The situation in respect TO rental
properties as given in the report IS
composed Of many of the problems
that were advanced by the proponents
of rent legislation here in their ef-
forts to get a continuance OF the
Rent Commission in the District.
These problems exist. the report
shows. despite the fact that New
York has had rent law for some
time.
No Relief In Sight.
The report quotes Tenement House
Commis5i oner Frank Mann OF New
York City IS saying:
For the average wage Garner the
supply Of low and modern rental
apartments has not as yet been met
To my mind the future holds no
promise for any relief in this resp oct.
the report says:
Rents have increased steadily in the
past year. as shown by Investigations
Of the commission. reports of the
United States Bureau of Labor Stats
tics and of the Federal Reserve Bank.
"A recent survey by the commission
OF one of the tenement house blocks
studied a year ago showed that no
rent reductions are being made, and
that on the whole the rents OF old
tenants. who are protected by the
rent laws, have not been increased,
but that new tenants are forced 10
pay higher rentals than ever before
The commission found that in the
same block in which tenants of more
than Is years are paying S21.5O,
tenants OF less than one year are
paying S35. The commission con
cludes that the enormous quantity or
new construction, though relieving
slightly the pressure on the more
well-to do, has left those with in
comes OF less than $4,000 entirely
unprovided for. Only about one-thlrd
of the families in New York City have
incomes of more than s2,500. For
wo-thirds OF the population new
con struction has brought no improve
ment in housing conditions.
Housing Progress Set Back
INSTEAD of providing increased ac-
commodations for such families the
commission finds that there has been
a marked retarding Of the rate OF
demolition, of old-law tenements
Many old-law tenements previously
converted to other use have been
brought back into use for dwelling
purposes. With regard TO this de
veIopment, the report refers 10 the
verdict of the tenement house de
partment that housing progress In
New York City has been set back 2o
years
The only protection afforded 70
tenants in apartments OF low and
moderate rental is found in the rent
laws without such protection these
tenants would be caught in the up
ward trend of rentals which was
partly suspended when the rent laws
were enacted in 1890. Since that
time, new tenants who had no pro-
lection in law paid what the market
could bear. Old tenants had refuge
in the courts, where they have re
sisted exorbitant increases"
The report states, further, that
rents are increasing in apartments
built before the war. and that despite
the fact that there have been $4,000
new apartments placed on the mar
ket in the past IL months the vacan-
cies are among housing units calling
for rents in excess of the income OF
most of the tenants of moderate
means The same assertions we're
made by the local proponents of the
rent bill here. They admitted vacan-
cies, but charged they were in the
high priced housing units, and claim
ed that their only protection was the