Kingston’s newly created Rent Guidelines Board will convene for the first time this evening. Meanwhile, residents of properties covered by the recently implemented Emergency Tenant Protection Act will get flyers in the mail informing them of their rights under the rent control law.

The state law, triggered by the Common Council’s declaration of a housing emergency in July, limits rent increases at properties with six or more rental units that were built before 1974. The law covers about 1,200 apartments at 59 properties, including large apartment complexes Dutch Village and Stony Run.

The nine-member Rent Guidelines Board, appointed by Mayor Steve Noble with input from the Common Council, will first establish a “fair market rent” figure for the city, then meet annually to set maximum rent increases on new one- and two-year leases on eligible properties. On Wednesday afternoon, city Director of Housing Initiatives Bartek Starodaj said the meeting scheduled for 6:30 at City Hall would be open to the public but would not be livestreamed or posted online.

The meeting, he said, will deal with administrative matters. “No decisions are being made tonight, it’s more of a procedural meeting,” said Starodaj. “They need to schedule dates for future meetings where decisions will be made and a public hearing.”

The state department of Housing and Community Renewal oversees the ETPA; Starodaj said that agency officials had urged the new board to get the law fully implemented before the end of November. HCR will also provide the board with guidance as it works to establish a fair market rent at the eligible properties. The agency, Starodaj said, provides data on factors like inflation and rent hikes at comparable properties to help guide the board’s decision-making. The board can also establish a “look-back period” before the law was passed and roll back rent increases that are over the fair market rent.

“One of their tasks will be to establish that look-back period,” said Starodaj. “And it will be up to them to determine how far back to look.”

Meanwhile, the city is working to get the word out to tenants of ETPA eligible properties about their new rights under the law. Those efforts include a mailer sent to all eligible units. City officials in particular want residents to know that a rent freeze at eligible properties has been in effect since Aug. 1 and will remain in effect until the new board establishes fair market rent and maximum rent hikes. Any rent increases in new leases at eligible properties signed after Aug. 1 are illegal, Starodaj said.