Hudson Valley Owners Group Can Appeal Kingston's ETPA Adoption to NY's Highest Court
LVT Number: #33324
A group of owners of buildings that became subject to rent stabilization under the City of Kingston’s August 2022 adoption of the ETPA filed a challenge to the city’s actions, arguing that the vacancy study upon which the ETPA adoption was based was flawed. The landlords also challenged orders issued by a newly established Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) that would have reduced current rents. In 2023, the court upheld Kingston's adoption of the ETPA as reasonable, finding that the city's vacancy survey was conducted in good faith, used a proper methodology, and was based on a common sense analysis of available data. But the court agreed with landlords' challenge to the RGB orders that had determined that any rent increase above 16 percent of the rent charged a tenant on Jan. 1, 2019, constituted a rent overcharge and that, upon renewal, landlords must decrease all rents by 15 percent. The court found that nothing in the ETPA authorized the RGB to make a blanket determination that units were subject to a maximum rent increase and immediate rent reduction.
The owners and the City of Kingston both appealed. The appeals court upheld Kingston's adoption of the ETPA in early 2024 and reversed part of the lower court's decision regarding the RGB. The appeals court held that the Kingston RGB wasn't required to conduct a case-by-case assessment to set a rental adjustment guideline or to specify a fair market rent guideline. However, owners couldn't be ordered to pay refunds for rent paid before they were aware of their potential exposure under the ETPA.
On Aug. 22, 2024, the Third Department granted the owners motion for permission to appeal further to New York's highest court, certifying that a question of law has arisen that in the court's opinion should be reviewed by the Court of Appeals.
Hudson Valley Property Owners Association Inc. v. City of Kingston: App. No. CV-23-0327, 2024 NY Slip Op 73143(U)(App. Div. 3 Dept.; 8/22/24; Egan Jr., JP, Clark, Pritzker, Fisher, Powers, JJ)