Talk Bronx New York

 Rent-regulated Bronx tenants have a chance to be heard Monday by the body that decides the annual increase that landlords are allowed.

The Rent Guidelines Board will hold the first public hearing in the borough from 4 p.m. to 10p.m. in the Main Theatre of Hostos Community College at 450 Grand Concourse near 149th St.

People who want to speak can register at the site from 3:45 p.m. until 8 p.m., but speakers who pre-registered by phone last week will go first.

“I don’t think they deserve any increase unless they’re keeping up the buildings like they’re supposed to,” said Annie Owens, 68, a rent-regulated tenant in Mount Eden.

Owens echoes a familiar complaint from tenants in rent-regulated buildings, who see rents creep up even as conditions in their buildings deteriorate.

Tenant advocates charge that real estate companies and absentee landlords often buy up rent-regulated buildings and then let them decay - or worse, harass the tenants - in order to drive out longtime residents so their apartments can be rented at market rates.

To counter that image, the Rent Stabilization Association, the city’s largest organization of property owners, recently launched a radio-ad campaign highlighting small-scale landlords as responsible owners whose taxes support the city.

The RSA claims that 60% of its membership owns buildings with just 20 units or less.

Peter Petrov of the Bronx, one of the small landlords featured in the ads, owns and manages a 55-unit building in Norwood. His father bought the building decades ago, and his 70-year-old mother still lives there.

“I grew up in this building,” said Petrov, 32. “It’s my father’s legacy.”

Petrov said even though the price of heating oil didn’t spike again this year, other costs shot up, like insurance and property taxes. Plus, there was the second double-digit water-rate hike in two years.

Even when he turns a profit, Petrov said he knows he may not keep it for long.

“Any profit a landlord makes goes into reserves to pay for emergency repairs,” he said.

Petrov is bracing for the day when his 25-year-old boiler fails, forcing repairs that will cost as much as $100,000.

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