Tenants in J-51 Building Qualify for Class Action Certification

Tenants of an apartment building sued landlord for rent overcharge after landlord improperly deregulated units while the building received J-51 tax benefits. The court denied tenants' request for certification of the case as a class action.

Tenants appealed and won. The determination of whether tenants have a cause that may be asserted as a class action turns on the application of CPLR 901. That section provides that one or more members of a class may sue or be sued as representative parties on behalf of all where five factors are met. These factors are numerosity, commonality, typicality, adequacy of representation, and superiority. The tenants met their burden of demonstrating the prerequisites for class action certification in this case. As of June 2017, DOF tax bills showed that only eight of 100 apartments in the building were registered as rent stabilized. And the predominant legal question involved the entire class and whether landlord unlawfully deregulated rent-stabilized apartments while receiving J-51 tax benefits. The plaintiffs also showed that they had an adequate understanding of the case in order to serve as class representatives.

Cupka v. Remik Holdings: App. No. 15250-15250A, 2022 NY Slip Op 00812, NYLJ 2/10/22, p. 18, col. 6 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 2/8/22; Renwick, JP, Mazzarelli, Friedman, Singh, Pitt, JJ)