City Can Impose Surcharge Against Landlords Who Don't Install Water Meters

March 1, 2004

LVT Number: 17201

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation sued the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to get water metering in residential buildings containing six or more apartments. DEP agreed to require landlords to install water meters and imposed a surcharge on landlords who didn't install the meters. The surcharge was 100 percent of either the last unmetered water charge or the last annualized meter charge. Landlords who didn't install water meters sued the New York City Water Board, claiming that the surcharge was unfair and unconstitutional.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation sued the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to get water metering in residential buildings containing six or more apartments. DEP agreed to require landlords to install water meters and imposed a surcharge on landlords who didn't install the meters. The surcharge was 100 percent of either the last unmetered water charge or the last annualized meter charge. Landlords who didn't install water meters sued the New York City Water Board, claiming that the surcharge was unfair and unconstitutional. The court ruled against landlords. The surcharge was not a shocking penalty but was reasonable and constitutional.

77 Realty LLC v. NYC Water Board: NYLJ, 2/25/04, p. 26, col. 1 (Sup. Ct. NY; Lehner, J)

Topics

More like this