Last night, the New York real estate community anxiously waited to see what the Rent Guidelines Board would do with one and two year renewal rates for the approximately one million rent stabilized apartments in New York City.  In addition to the standard one and two year percentage increases, on the table was an additional fuel surcharge which would be applicable to residents living in certain buildings.  As it ends up, the board approved a 3.75% increase and 7.25% increase for one and two year renewals, respectively.  The board did not wind up voting on the additional fuel surcharge.

So, how does this affect a user of the MDS Explorer property management system?  In the end, since there was no additional increase for fuel surcharges, it is a relative non-event (from a user's standpoint at least).  The system is already flexible enough to handle the latest guidelines as they are currently written.  Simply go to  Utilities> Lease Renewal Properties> Define NYC DHCR Renewal Properties.  From here, you can add the new one and two year percentage guidelines.  It is important to note that all of the historical sets of guidelines are still being maintained.  Therefore, the system is smart enough to use the proper rates for whatever period you are printing DHCR rent stabilized lease renewal packages.

Again, as of now, there was no programming change required to accommodate the new guidelines.  However, rest assured that in the event that the RGB  does throws us a curve-ball, MDS will have you covered.  We already had programming time allotted to immediately handle any programming changes that may have been necessary.  We will continue to keep abreast of the situation to ensure that you don't skip a beat. As a property management software company focused on the local New York market, these regulations affect nearly all of our clients and we pride ourselves on adapting faster than any other vendor in the market- usually within 7 days.