Rent Stabilization Assoc. tackles rent issues. (Insiders Outlook).

The Rent Stabilization Association, representing owners and managers of over one million regulated apartments, offers leadership on legislative and regulatory issues affecting the economic vitality of rental housing providers in New York City. RSA also provides competitive membership services developed in response to the numerous legal and regulatory requirements placed upon the residential housing industry.

This month, the industry is dealing with yet another of the outgrowths of regulation -- the annual Rent Guidelines Board process to determine 2002-03 lease renewal rates for rent stabilized apartments. The Rent Stabilization Association leads the fight for higher guidelines each year.

Unfortunately, the process is heavily influenced by the fact that the majority of the city's voters are tenants. Owners are often forced to endure rates of increase for renewal leases that are well below increases in their operating costs as measured by the Rent Guidelines Board. In 2000 and 2001, the board measured owners' operating cost increases of 7.8% and 8.7% respectively, but voted each year to limit increases for one-year lease renewals to a less than adequate 4%.

This year, in addition to the inevitable increases in real estate taxes and water & sewer rates, rental owners are faced with double-digit increases in insurance rates. RSA will make the case before the Rent Guidelines Board for realistic guidelines that reflect the actual cost increases rental housing providers have been forced to absorb.

Meanwhile, RSA continues to work to help property owners build more profitable businesses. Annual registration of rents for stabilized apartments with the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal began on April 1. Before the deadline for compliance on July 31, RSA will have registered hundreds of thousands of apartments timely and accurately through our proven, cost effective Rent Registration service.

Recently, RSA introduced a new property and liability insurance program from Smyth, Sanford & Gerard, Inc. A New York insurance broker, Smyth, Sanford & Gerard designed the new program to address the specific needs of building owners in the City.

Amid ongoing efforts to bring Rent Stabilization Association members the most competitive products available in the marketplace, RSA's tenant screening service, Court & Credit [TM], is now partnering with NTN, Inc., to provide comprehensive information on new and prospective tenants.

A national leader in the field of tenant screening services, NTN offers instant access to the largest proprietary tenant history database in the country. NTN-New York, part of a network of 25 offices in 21 states, provides local service and expertise for RSA subscribers. After the initial success of Realm Express, our property management program for small to mid-sized owners, we expanded to include an online service for mid-sized to large owners. Our new Realm Online handles all billing needs including rent rolls, billing register, lease expiration information and security deposit reports -- all of which can be accessed and updated via modem. Owners have complete access to their building information from anywhere in the world.