Democrat mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s pledge to freeze rents on stabilized apartments in New York City is unsettling small-scale landlords who say the democratic socialist’s housing policy threatens to put them out of business.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the city’s small landlords have contended with higher interest rates and soaring inflation since the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of them told the outlet that the rent they collect barely covers their monthly expenses and they consider themselves lucky if they’re able to just break even.

The city’s rent-stabilization laws primarily apply to apartment buildings with at least six units built before 1974, and many mom-and-pop landlords operate properties with around this number.

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