Tenants accuse landlord of illegal rent hikes

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Senator Skoufis at Silver Stream Village.

NEW WINDSOR — Tenants of the Silver Stream Mobile Village on Bivona Lane rallied Thursday morning with Senator James Skoufis (D- NY39) against unfair and allegedly unlawful rent hikes within the park resident community.

According to the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019, owners of manufactured housing parks cannot raise their rents in excess of three percent, unless there are extenuating circumstances; such as more than three percent increases on their property taxes, increased operating costs, or are conducting capital improvements within the park.

Senator Skoufis said they had pulled the property tax records on RHP Properties, the owners of the park, and that they had in fact gone down from 2018 and have only had an increase of approximately one percent for library tax, with no evidence of capital improvements or increased operating costs.  Senator Skoufis and the residents of Silver Stream have demanded the cessation of these rent increases.

“We’re here to demand that RHP property, who took over this mobile home park in late 2017, withdraw their abusive and unlawful rent increase of over five, nearly six, percent,” said Skoufis.

Yvonne Maldonato, a silver stream resident, said they have tried to reach out to RHP about the rent increases, but the company has been unresponsive.

Yvonne Maldonato speaks as Senator Skoufis looks on.

“We tried to reach out to them. We tried to talk with them. We tried to reason with them, and say, ‘Look, meet us halfway. All we want to do is communicate with you people,” said Maldonato. “They refuse to talk to us. They refuse to communicate with us,” she said.

The bill allows 90 days for a civil grievance in accordance with the law on behalf of the tenants. Tenants of the Silver Stream Park, along with others from parks owned by RHP within the Hudson Valley encountering similar issues, are organizing to bring a civil suit against RHP Properties in accordance with the law.