Washington, D.C. – June 13, 2023 (nar.realtor) The National Association of Realtors®, National Apartment Association, National Association of Home Builders, and the Mortgage Bankers Association filed a joint amicus brief late last week in support of two cases asking the Supreme Court to hear a challenge to New York’s Rent Stabilization Law (RSL). Together, in the brief, the associations wrote:
“[G]overnments up and down our federalist system are continually finding ways to encroach upon private-property rights. Rather than protect private property, governments have conscripted property owners into serving the state without compensation. These intrusive and unconstitutional actions include eviction moratoria and draconian rent control regimes that purport to divest property owners of long-recognized property interests. …[I]t is critical that the Court intervene to provide guidance to lower courts assessing challenges to burgeoning restrictions on private property.
“New York’s RSL demonstrates the harmful effects of misguided housing policies that restrict private-property rights. Simply put, rent control laws like the RSL exacerbate housing supply and affordability problems by reducing the quantity of available housing. They also reduce housing quality, decrease consumer mobility and entry into the housing market, and provide an inequitable solution to issues of housing affordability.”
The two cases supporting the challenge of New York’s RSL are Community Housing Improvement Program, et al. v City of New York and 74 Pinehurst LLC, et al., v. New York. Together, the records in these cases give examples of how the RSL has made it difficult for property owners to possess and enjoy their properties, even for personal uses, and the negative impact on the broader housing market. These irresponsible laws consistently affect “mom-and-pop” property owners with the fewest resources, forcing them alone to bear the public burdens beyond what the Constitution permits.
The National Association of Realtors® is America’s largest trade association, representing more than 1.5 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. The term Realtor® is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of Realtors® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.