Response to the Mamdani Adminstration’s Rental Ripoff Report

The Mamdani administration’s Rental Ripoff Report findings validate what ANHD’s organizers and tenants have been raising for years about landlord abuses such as lack of heat, persistent mold and pests, neglected or poor-quality repairs, and concerns about increases in immigration-related harassment. The report also makes an important distinction between “low-road” landlords, who speculate on tenants’ homes and rely on harmful practices to increase profits, and “high-road” landlords, who work with tenants to properly manage and preserve critical low-cost housing instead of prioritizing profits. By making this distinction clear, the city can better target resources to address tenants’ challenges.

We thank the administration for creating this robust process for tenants to directly share the challenges they have been experiencing. Over 2,400 tenants testified and spoke directly with representatives from HPD, DOB, DCWP, and MOPT. ANHD members, including members of the Signature Tenant Coalition, testified at all five hearings. We look forward to working with the administration to design solutions that adopt best practices from other cities and ensure tenants can live in healthy and safe conditions.