Attorney General Letitia James has taken two Brooklyn landlords to court, accusing them of quietly renting out apartments at market rates that should have been rent stabilized and allegedly trying to nudge tenants out instead of registering the units. The lawsuits, filed Tuesday, are among the first tests of a new enforcement push centered on “de facto” rent stabilization, a legal concept that can pull certain older, smaller buildings into the orbit of rent-stabilized rules. Tenants named in the filings report persistent building-code headaches and, in at least one case, say they endured retaliatory shutoffs of gas, water and electricity while paying higher rents.
As reported by Gothamist, the Office of the Attorney General sued landlords John Anderson and Claudette Henry, naming buildings in Crown Heights and Ocean Hill. At 1075 Dean Street in Crown Heights, state officials determined in 2016 that the property was subject to rent stabilization, yet city records later showed more than 100 open housing violations. A tenant told state investigators that after she asked for a rent-stabilized lease, Anderson allegedly cut off essential services, including gas, water and electricity. Gothamist also reports that 134 Sackman Street in Ocean Hill has been treated as rent stabilized by judges and had dozens of open violations as of late May.
In a press release, the Office of the Attorney General said these are the first lawsuits filed under its de facto rent stabilization compliance program. The office is asking the court to place the apartments back under rent stabilization and order refunds of overcharges with interest. Officials say they have already sent letters to more than 50 landlords, and that 21 owners have certified their compliance, returning 91 units to regulation and preventing 26 evictions. “Rent stabilization and tenant protection laws help keep working New Yorkers throughout our city in homes they can afford,” James said in the statement.
Buildings Named in the Suits
The complaints spotlight what tenants describe as tactics that kept them in the dark about their rights. According to the attorney general, Anderson did not register any apartments at 1075 Dean Street with state housing officials and failed to pay required annual fees. Henry is accused of refusing to register 134 Sackman Street even after courts found that it was subject to rent stabilization, as detailed by Gothamist. Local watchdog reporting also places Henry on the Public Advocate’s worst-landlord list, according to BK Reader. Tenants and advocates say such patterns make it far tougher for renters to figure out whether their home is protected and to press for their legal rights.
Enforcement and Transparency
The new cases arrive as city and state officials try to pull more rent-stabilized units out of the shadows. New York City’s Local Law 86 requires owners to post notices in common areas of buildings that include rent-stabilized apartments so tenants can look up their status, according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. State enforcement teams such as HCR’s Tenant Protection Unit have been auditing building portfolios and using investigations and settlements to pull illegally deregulated units back under regulation and secure refunds for tenants who were overcharged.
Legal Remedies the AG Seeks
The attorney general is asking the courts to order the owners to register the buildings with the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, issue proper rent-stabilized leases and reimburse tenants for any overcharges, with nine percent interest. The lawsuits also seek civil penalties, including per-occupant fines for harassment and per-unit penalties for each month a building went unregistered, along with other relief intended to discourage similar conduct, according to the AG’s office. If the suits are successful, tenants could recover months or years of alleged overcharges and receive enforceable stabilized leases going forward.
Tenants who suspect their apartment should be rent stabilized can request the unit’s rent history from HCR and file complaints with HCR’s Tenant Protection Unit or the Attorney General’s Housing Protection Unit. Advocates say this mix of tougher transparency rules and more aggressive enforcement is giving renters clearer paths to challenge overcharges and unsafe conditions.
