Air conditioner surcharge legal if i own it?

[danpedraza]

I live in NYC NY and the entire rental building i live in received notice in this months rent envelopes demanding 5.00 dollars per air conditioner even though we own the air conditioners. The rent guidlines do permit such an increase and charge monthly year round but there seems to be a loophole. The law states that the landlord should have pursued these charges within a reasonable amoint of time after the air conditioners were installed. Question? Is this true and what constitutes reasonable period of time? Our entire building with 100 apartments is boycotting this increase.

[elklaw]

Well you said it was allowable, so maybe the investigation should be about why the increase. It may be that the owner is being taxed or forced to make repairs because of the volume of air conditioner use, so the fee, very small I think, may be business nad lease related, thus valid. Investigate more as this probably is not a junk charge.