Rochester City Council wants to study rent control - again. This time landlords have to participate

City Council is testing the waters for the second time to see if Rochester qualifies for rent control.

Council members unanimously approved a bill this month which would send out a request for proposals to find out how much a study would cost to determine the vacancy rate for rental housing in the city. An earlier study, completed in 2021, determined the vacancy rate was too high to qualify for rent control under the Emergency Tenant Protection Act.

If a city’s housing stock is less than 5% vacant for buildings built before 1974 with more than six units, the city would be eligible for coverage under the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019. Rent increases would be capped at 7.5% per year, and tenants in good standing would have the right to renew a lease.

When Rochester completed its study three years ago, it found a 9% vacancy rate, disqualifying it from such protections.

But there were problems with the study. Namely, there were no penalties if landlords didn’t respond. And most didn’t. Just 37% of the landlords solicited for responses gave answers to the city.

Late last year, the New York state Legislature passed a bill codifying rules for such studies. Those included a possible $1,000 fine for landlords who refused to participate. If landlords still didn’t respond, the property would be recorded as fully occupied. That would drive the vacancy rate down and further the likelihood that the city would qualify.

Assemblymember Sarah Clark, D-Rochester, said that such a bill allows for more accurate measurement of the city’s housing situation.

“I think it’s worth doing, and we don’t know 100% what it will be,” Clark said in an interview shortly after the bill’s passage. “But we do know you can’t make a housing plan if you don’t know what’s going on.”

No timeline has been set for the request for proposals process. A second vote would be required to have the study performed.