Finding out rent?

Unless the apartment is still rent stabilized (highly unlikely) there is probably no way to find out the current rent short of asking the current tenant. Under the rent stabilization law the landlord is entitled to an automatic vacancy rent increase, in addition for the landlord is entitled to add 2.5% of the cost of any renovations to the monthly legal rent. Once the legal rent reaches $2000, the landlord can apply to have the apartment destabilized. It is not very difficult to get the legal rent to $2000 when an apartment is vacant, and I can't imagine why any landlord would let a vacant apartment remain stabilized if they didn't have to. It is important to not that a landlord is not required to charge a tenant the legal rent. In my last apartment the legal rent was $2056 per month, making it free market and not subject to rent stabilization. However, the actual rent I paid was $1726 per month.

So in a nutshell, if the landlord has any brains, the apartment is now destabilized and there is no public record of the current market rate rent.

he is probably getting at least $1300 now

Chekhovian wrote: i'm not sure i understand the advantage to rent stabilization when the regulated rate is 4.8%. the majority of people i know in "unstabilized" apartments have not seen their rent increase. everyone i know in a stabilized apartment has seen the max rate applied to their apartment every year, regardless of their record of paying on time, not causing trouble, etc.

obviously the upside to stabilization is it cuts out the possibility of a landlord raising the rent 50% from a previous year, but i suspect those instances are far outnumbered by the instances where a landlord decides to keep the rent the same for a responsible tenant.

Another advantage if you come into a low rent-stability (as in my case)- the two prior tenants lived there for years and years making the rent super low when I took over the lease.

But I see you're point. I guess its the stability of knowing when and how much your rent is going to go up along with the stability of knowing they can only boot you for non-payment. I've never seen anyone get kicked out for anything else. People who get those apts stay in them.

At the rate I'm going I still have about 6 years before my lease hits $2000. I'm one lucky bitch.

my point is relative to leases that begin at "market rate" which i understand to be an ambiguos term.
if you get in like whatchuwant, then rent stabilization is an asset.