Tenants of J-51 Building Can Pursue Class Action Status

Building tenants sued landlord, claiming rent overcharge and other violations of the rent stabilization law. Tenants also sought designation to proceed with the case as a class action. The court dismissed tenants' request for class action status. Tenants appealed and won on that point. The appeals court ruled that, although landlord argued that the complaint didn't plead the class action prerequisites of typicality and commonality, it was premature to dismiss the class action claims, which were based on allegations of a methodical attempt to inflate rents illegally. New York's highest court had recently ruled in a similar case that tenants of several buildings could assert class action claims against building owners engaged in a common scheme to evade rent regulations by failing to follow the rent requirements for landlords participating in the J-51 tax benefits program and claiming rent increases based on individual apartment improvements that weren't actually performed.

Quinn v. Parkoff Operating Corp.: 2019 NY Slip Op 08642, Index No. 7470, 155195/17 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 12/3/19; Friedman, JP, Kapnick, Webber, Oing, Moulton, JJ)