Tenants' Claims of Fraudulent Deregulation Subject to Law as Amended in 2023

Four tenants sued landlord, claiming improper, fraudulent apartment deregulation and rent overcharge. Tenants asked the court for a ruling without a trial, which the court granted in part in 2022. Tenants appealed, and the lower court ruling was further modified. The appeals court held that Rent Stabilization Law and Code amendments made applicable  to all claims pending as of December 22, 2023, should apply to consideration of whether there was a fraudulent scheme to deregulate the apartments here. Tenants established a colorable fraudulent scheme to deregulate the apartments. The rent increases shown in DHCR rent histories were haphazard, unsupported, and would have required numerous instances of IAI and MCI work while these tenants were in occupancy to reach the rents registered. Tenants submitted sworn statements that no work had been performed in the building or in their apartments to justify those increases during their tenancies. 

Reichenbach v. Jacin Invs. Corp.: Index No155013/19, App. No. 4043, Case No. 2023-06544, 2025 NY Slip Op 02023 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 4/3/25; Manzanet-Daniels, JP, Moulton, Gesmer, Pitt-Burke, Michael, JJ)