The Lucky Break of Rent Stabilization

The New York Times reports:

There are nearly a million rent-stabilized apartments in New York City. Which means that there are at least a million lucky people who know they have relatively low rent that isn’t going to rise too far, too fast. These fortunate souls also know that their leases, especially for apartments in Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, are worth far more than the paper they are written on, should the landlord or a developer decide to buy tenants out.

A whole industry is built around paying tenants to move, and it is cloaked in mystery. Developers, seeking to spend as little as possible, make offers quietly and individually. Neighbors, wary of spoiling a deal, don’t talk to one another about those offers. There are no guidelines to help people figure out what an apartment is worth, and no easy ways to calculate the emotional toll that comes with moving from a home, sometimes after decades.

The whacky world of Blue America.