Mr. Rangel admitted that he occupies four rent-stabilized apartments in a high-class New York City building. It turns out that in a city with a very tight housing market, Mr. Rangel has fought himself a pretty good deal, thanks to rent-control laws that are apparently aimed at helping the poor and middle class. Mr. Rangel, the powerful Democrat who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, uses his fourth apartment, six floors below, as a campaign office, despite state and city regulations that require rent-stabilized apartments to be used as a primary residence. Mr. Rangel, paid a total rent of $3,894 monthly in 2007 for the four apartments at Lenox Terrace, a 1,700-unit luxury development of six towers, with doormen, that is described in real estate publications as Harlem's most prestigious address. The current market-rate rent for similar apartments in Mr. Rangel's building would total $7,465 to $8,125 a month.