LINC Program Lease Riders for Rent-Stabilized Renewal Increases Violated Urstadt Law

Two prospective tenants sued landlord of Mitchell-Lama complex, claiming source-of-income discrimination. Tenants were employed but lived in NYC homeless shelters. Tenants participated in NYC's Living in Communities (LINC) program and had LINC rent vouchers. The LINC program requires landlords to accept a lease rider by which landlords agree to automatically renew tenants' leases for a second year at the same rent as the first year, and to limit rent increases for the following three years to amounts approved by the Rent Guidelines Board for rent-stabilized apartments. Landlord claimed that the LINC lease rider violated the Urstadt Law by placing apartments rented to LINC program tenants under rent stabilization when the building complex was already subject to separate regulation under Mitchell-Lama. The court ruled for tenants and ordered landlord to process and respond to tenants' apartment applications.

Landlord appealed and won. The lease rider mandates of the LINC program violated New York State's 1971 Urstadt Law, first by requiring renewal leases at rent-stabilized rent increases. The LINC program also violated the Urstadt Law by attempting to expand NYC's control through the mandatory lease riders over housing units without DHCR approval. Compelling landlord to accept tenants with LINC program rent vouchers as structured violated the Urstadt Law's prohibition against expanding the number of housing units subject to more stringent or restrictive provisions of regulation and control than those presently in effect. The case was dismissed.

Alston v. Starrett City, Inc.: 161 A.D.3d 37, 2018 NY Slip Op 02420 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 4/5/18; Sweeny Jr., JP, Manzanet-Daniels, Webber, Kahn, Moulton, JJ)