Landlord Improperly Deregulated Apartment While Building Received J-51 Tax Benefits
LVT Number: #33693
Landlord sued to evict tenant after sending tenant a 90-day lease nonrenewal notice. Landlord claimed that the apartment was unregulated. Tenant claimed that he was rent stabilized. Both sides asked the court to rule on that issue without a trial.
The court ruled for tenant. Landlord received J-51 tax benefits for the building between 2003 and 2017. So, landlord's claimed high-rent vacancy deregulation of the apartment in 2014 was improper as a matter of law under the Court of Appeals 2009 ruling in Roberts v. Tishman Speyer Props, LP. The holdover petition therefore misstated the tenant's regulatory status, and was dismissed.
Tenant also claimed rent overcharge, and the court ruled that a trial was needed. To the extent that a showing of fraud was needed to challenge the 2013 and 2014 rent increases, tenant adequately showed that there were indicia of fraud under the totality of the circumstances test upheld by the Court of Appeals in Burrows v. 75-25 153rd St. LLC (LVT #33650). Landlord disregarded the law of the Roberts case after 2009. And DOB job/permit application for the apartment and an affidavit by tenant's architect indicated that individual apartment improvements (IAIs) performed at the unit were questionable.
304-306 E 83 Realty LLC v. Mason: Index No. L&T 313307/22, 2025 NY Slip Op 25104 (Civ. Ct. NY; 4/25/25; Guthrie, J)