NEW YORK SUPPLEMENT - 2ND SERIES - LEGAL REPORTER

Four-Year Rule Applies to Overcharge Claims

June 25, 2020    

Building tenants sued landlord, seeking a declaration that they were rent stabilized and were overcharged. In a prior appellate ruling, a court declared that the building was subject to rent stabilization as of April...

Landlord Can't Prove Tenants Breached Court Stipulation Promising Not to Smoke

June 25, 2020    

Landlord sued to evict tenants for smoking in their apartment. Landlord and tenants signed a settlement agreement in court. Tenants agreed to refrain from smoking or to permit any visitors to smoke in their apartment...

Landlord Brings Improper Proceeding Against Tenant's Children

June 25, 2020    

After rent-stabilized tenant died, tenant's son and daughter claimed succession rights and asked landlord for a renewal lease. Landlord instead offered them a vacancy lease, which they refused to sign. Landlord...

New Landlord Claims It's Not Responsible for Old Overcharge Finding

June 25, 2020    

Former rent-stabilized tenant sued prior landlord and current landlord (NYU) in 2019, seeking enforcement of a prior court's judgment for rent overcharge in the amount of $132,985 which was issued in 2017 against...

Landlord Refused to Accept Large Packages of Electronics for Tenants

June 25, 2020    

Rent-stabilized tenant complained to the DHCR in 2014 of a reduction in building-wide services after building staff discontinued their acceptances, on behalf of tenants, of large electronic goods. Tenant claimed...

Court Won't Reopen Overcharge Case for DHCR to Apply HSTPA Changes

June 25, 2020    

Rent-stabilized tenant complained of rent overcharge. She was the first tenant to occupy the apartment, which was rent-stabilized solely due to the building's receipt of J-51 tax benefits. The initial legal...

DHCR Reasonably Relied on Landlord's Lower Commercial Space Allocation

June 25, 2020    

Landlord applied to the DHCR for rent increases based on major capital improvements (MCIs) based on the installation of new boilers and burners. The tenants' association objected and, among other things, disputed...

Court Reinstates Tenant's Overcharge Claim After Collazo Decision

June 25, 2020    

Tenant sued landlord for rent overcharge. The court dismissed the case without prejudice in January 2020 and instructed tenant to refile the overcharge claim with the DHCR. In April 2020, tenant sought to renew her...

Four-Year Lookback Applied to Overcharge Claim Pending When HSTPA Enacted

June 25, 2020    

Rent-stabilized tenant sued landlord for rent overcharge. Tenant's apartment had been improperly deregulated while the building received J-51 tax benefits. Landlord claimed that the apartment's legal...

Tenants' Three-Unit Buildings Weren't Part of HMD

June 24, 2020    

In two separate proceedings, the DHCR ruled that Building A and Building C weren't subject to rent stabilization. Each building contained three apartments, but tenants in each building claimed that, together with...

Court Upholds DHCR's Deregulation of Tenant's Apartment

June 24, 2020    

Landlord applied for high-rent/high-income deregulation of tenant's rent-stabilized apartment. The DHCR ruled for landlord, finding that tenant's apartment was to be deregulated at the end of her current...

Daughter Didn't Prove Succession Rights to Rent-Stabilized Apartment

June 24, 2020    

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant's daughter after tenant moved out. The daughter claimed succession rights to the apartment. The trial court ruled for landlord. The daughter appealed and lost. The...