Tenants, and Nonprofits Assisting Them, To Receive $1 Million from NYC Landlord for Harassment and “Frivolous Housing Court Evictions”
Legal Services E-lert

Date of E-Lert – 02/19/10

Bibliographic Info:
Author: Christine Haughney
Source: “Landlord to Pay $1 Million Over Treatment of Tenants,” The New York Times
Date: February 11, 2010

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The New York Times reports:   “Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo said Thursday [Feb. 11th] that he had reached a $1 million settlement with a large New York City property owner that became a lightning rod for complaints about landlords’ treatment of tenants in rent-regulated apartments. Under the settlement, the landlord, Vantage Properties, must stop harassing tenants in its 9,500 apartments in Queens and Manhattan with ‘baseless legal notices’ and ‘frivolous housing court evictions,’ according to a statement from Mr. Cuomo. The attorney general’s office, which started its investigation in the summer of 2008, found that in Vantage’s search for profits, it tried to force tenants out of apartments so it could renovate them and raise rents. Last month Mr. Cuomo said he intended to sue Vantage. The settlement said that over two years Vantage filed more than 1,000 notices against tenants and took a ‘significant number’ to housing court. . . . Of the $1 million, $750,000 has been earmarked for residents ‘who can demonstrate that they unjustly vacated their apartments or were subject to frivolous housing court proceedings,’ the settlement says. Nonprofit groups that help tenants will receive $250,000 and whatever is left of the $750,000 after tenants are paid. . . . Affordable housing advocates praised the outcome because they said it sent a warning to other landlords that bought apartments at the peak of the real estate boom and sought profits by pressuring lower-paying renters to leave and replacing them with higher-paying tenants. ‘It establishes a precedent that this predatory equity model is a threat to affordable housing and is illegal when it crosses the line,’ said Robert McCreanor, director of legal services for the Catholic Migration Office. . . . He said that his group, along with other legal services groups and nonprofit agencies, represented hundreds of Vantage tenants who were subject to ‘a barrage of baseless legal proceedings’ since 2006.”

Read about LSC-funded Legal Services NYC’s suit against Vantage Properties.

Tags: Housing, Legal Services Activities and Achievements