N.Y. Extends Rent Laws

Negotiating against a midnight deadline, the governor and lawmakers reached “conceptual agreement” late Sunday to extend state laws that have allowed millions of New Yorkers to enjoy below-market rents.

The tentative deal was announced just after the laws expired at midnight. Lawmakers said they would return this morning to vote on the proposal. Neither side would release details.

“We’re hopeful they’ll be no evictions,” Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a chief defender of the state rent laws, said today.

The rent laws apply to about 1.1 million apartments, most in the New York City area, housing more than 2.5 million people.

Supporters of rent regulations say they make New York City affordable for middle- and working-class residents. Opponents argue the laws allow the rich to live cheaply and reduce landlords’ incentives to maintain buildings or construct new residential housing.