Tenant protection

Tenant Protection Unit

Contact the TPU

To Contact the TPU:

NYS Homes & Community Renewal
Tenant Protection Unit

641 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10022

 
Referral
Submit a Referral/Inquiry
Email
[email protected]

Happening Now

Join us on Tuesday April 25, 2023 at the Tenant Resource Fair! TPU Assistant Commissioner Argyro Boyle and Senior Attorney Tom Mennecke will be a part of a panel discussion on the rights and protections afforded to tenants under New York State's rent stabilization law. We will also host a resource a resource table where you can get information on rent stabilization law and speak with TPU staff.  This is a great opportunity to get some facetime with TPU's attorneys and ask your questions about rent stabilization!

Committee & HCCI Tenant Resource Fair Flyer

Overview


In 2011, New York State enacted the greatest expansion of rent regulations in 40 years. In 2012, to increase compliance with these laws and further protect rent-regulated tenants, the Tenant Protection Unit (TPU) was created to act as a proactive law enforcement office within New York State Homes and Community Renewal. The TPU preserves affordable housing by detecting and curtailing patterns and practices of landlord fraud and harassment through audits, investigations, and impactful legal actions. The TPU also encourages compliance by informing tenants and owners of their rights and responsibilities under the rent regulation laws.

The 3 Units of the TPU

The TPU is comprised of three units:

Audit/Investigatory
The Audit/Investigatory Unit determines which landlords to audit and investigate through research, constituent outreach, and risk assessments to assure compliance with New York’s housing laws and regulations.  The Audit /Investigatory unit conducts comprehensive audits, investigations and inspections to detect and determine potential landlord illegality, misrepresentations and fraud. The unit consists of auditors, investigators, and housing inspectors who collaborate with the legal and forensic units to strategize and develop a course of action to assure compliance with and enforce New York’s rent laws.

Legal
The Legal Unit works with the Audit/Investigatory Unit to proactively prevent violations of housing laws and root out fraud that impairs the rights of rent regulated tenants thereby diminishing New York’s affordable housing stock.  TPU’s attorneys analyze investigations for fraud, harassment and other illegality.  TPU’s attorneys enforce New York’s rent regulation laws and seek injunctive relief through negotiated settlements or litigation.  The Legal Unit educates tenants on their legal rights and collaborates with community and tenant advocacy groups to consolidate efforts to end tenant harassment and other unlawful activity.

Forensic Analysis
The Forensic Analysis Unit provides the necessary information to support new and ongoing audits and investigations through analyses, reports, and dashboards.  Information is sourced both internally from internal agency data as well as some external sources.  The Forensics Team has implemented a data warehouse containing ten years of HUTS rent data, creates ad hoc reports for the Deputy Commissioner as well as other units for analysis of particular buildings and owners, and supports the Tenant Protection Unit (TPU) Individual Audit Improvement (IAI) initiative by identifying  owners/buildings/apartments to audit. In addition, the unit maintains the data collection activities and monitors current and future performance measures.

TPU Timeline

2023

October 2023

  • On October 18th, TPU staff attended a Fall Constituent Service Session hosted by Assembly Member Robert C. Carroll of District 44 at the Brooklyn Public Library. Attorney Tom Mennecke, Housing and Community Renewal Specialist 2 and Excelsior Fellow Harry LaMagna spoke directly with Brooklyn tenants about New York’s Rent Stabilization Code. TPU staff were able to answer questions from the public in regards their rights as tenants and the work TPU does to help preserve New York State’s stock of affordable housing.
Photo: TPU Attends Fall Constituent Service Session

From left to right:  Housing and Community Renewal Specialist, Harry Lamagna, Excelsior Fellow, and Thomas Mennecke, Senior Attorney

2022

December 2022

  • December 5th, 2022 - TPU hosted Joe Getz, a student at Brooklyn Law School, as an intern during the Fall 2022 semester. Joe Getz had the opportunity to work alongside TPU staff researching policies on affordable housing issues. Joe stated that his belief in the importance of protecting New York State’s stock of affordable housing is what motivated him to come work as an intern for TPU and that he was grateful to have the opportunity to assist TPU staff in their duties. Joe states that when he graduates, he hopes to continue his career in public service. When asked what advice he would give to future TPU interns he stated that interns should feel free to ask questions because the staff at TPU are both very knowledgeable and friendly.

November 2022

  • Nov 10, 2022 - TPU, under the leadership of Deputy Commissioner Pavita Krishnaswamy, celebrates its 10th anniversary. TPU has become instrumental in protecting the rights of rent stabilized tenants by helping to return millions in rent overcharges to tenants and returning tens of thousands of apartments back to registration. A celebration in honor of TPU’s anniversary was hosted by Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas and featured speeches from current and former TPU staff members. Certificates were presented by Commissioner Visnauskas to long-time TPU staff members Jaqueline Morgan, Lewis Gray and Sunny Augustine recognizing their years of service and dedication to the mission of TPU. The staff of TPU looks forward to many decades of protecting New York’s affordable housing through proactive and energetic law enforcement.
TPU November

(Pictured Left To Right: Housing & Community Renewal Specialist 2, Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas, Administrative Assistant Jaqueline Morgan, Housing & Community Renewal Specialist 2, Director of Investigations/Audit Lewis Gray, Assistant Commissioner/ Legal Director Argyro Boyle)

October 2022

  • October 12, 2022 - TPU along with members of the Tenant Harassment Prevention Taskforce reached a settlement with Greenbrook Holdings, LLC (Greenbrook) for harassing tenants and engaging in unlawful practices in managing its buildings in Brooklyn. Greenbrook owns 188 buildings comprising approximately 1,000 units, many of which are rent-stabilized, in New York City and state, with the majority in neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn. Tenants were subjected to dangerous living conditions, including but not limited to illegal construction and frequent interruption of essential services such as gas and water. As a result of the settlement, Fournier and Greenbrook will pay $100,000 in penalties to HPD, credit $7,500 to every current tenant who moved into ten of their worst buildings on or before July 1, 2021, hire external monitors to oversee construction activity and compliance, and correct hundreds of violations across 22 of the most egregiously managed buildings within 60 days of signing. Greenbrook must update paperwork and registrations for all buildings and units covered by New York City’s rent stabilization laws.  https://hcr.ny.gov/news/nys-homes-and-community-renewal-and-tenant-harassment-prevention-task-force-stop-bad-landlords

July 2022

TPU Outreach with NYLAG

  • On July 27, 2022, TPU Attorneys Tom Mennecke and Bill Ploskli, along with Legal Interns Rachelle Casement and Althea Lamel, presented a Lunch and Learn with NYLAG’s (New York Legal Assistance Group) Tenants’ Rights Unit. The educational event provided NYLAG an insight into TPU, discussed how the TPU generally operates, along with its mission and scope. TPU and NYLAG also discussed various areas of rent stabilization law, and how the two organizations work to preserve affordable housing in the State of New York.

TPU Outreach with TSU

  • On July 7, 2022, TPU Attorney Tom Mennecke, along with Legal Interns Rachelle Casement and Jane Stenz, presented a Lunch and Learn with New York City’s Tenant Support Unit (TSU). The discussion focused on the roles and responsibilities of the TPU, and how the TPU works with local governments to preserve affordable housing. TPU and TSU also discussed important rent stabilization legal topics such as the HSTPA (Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act), how the TPU resolves legal issues, and the operation of rent stabilization law.
TPU Lunch and Learn

TPU Outreach with P.A.’L.A.N.T.E. Harlem

  • The TPU, represented by Legal Director Argyro Boyle and Senior Attorney Tom Mennecke, attended P.A.L.A.N.T.E.’s “How to Protect Yourself Against Landlord Harassment” on April 26, 2022. The webinar is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRjasJYSlNM. The discussion with P.A.’L.A.N.T.E included the Manhattan DA’s Financial Frauds Bureau. The conversation focused on identifying and preventing landlord harassment, the tools TPU uses to combat all forms of tenant harassment, and how tenants can seek help from community resources to stop the insidiousness of landlord harassment.
TPU PALANTE Webinar

2021

November 2021

  • On November 15, 2021, Tenant Protection Unit (TPU) Legal Director Argyro Boyle and Senior Attorney Monique Thomas participated in the Housing Resource Fair which was hosted by the Queens DA. The event was located at ELMCORE Youth & Adult Activities in Corona, Queens and was attended by numerous City agencies and tenant organizations. TPU met with tenants and provided helpful information to the attendees seeking information about housing and rent stabilization law.

October 2021

  • On October 7, 2021, Tenant Protection Unit Attorneys Karis Rasmussen and Tom Mennecke participated in the Hispanic Heritage Month Human Rights and Housing Fair at PS 24K, located in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Numerous government agencies, legal services providers, and tenant rights organizations participated at the outdoor event to provide information and resources to the community. Thanks to terrific weather, the turnout was very successful with scores of community members visiting the event. The TPU met with tenants and community members curious about rent stabilization and their rights as tenants."

September 2021

TPU at CDC Housing Fair
  • On Saturday, September 18, 2021, Tenant Protection Unit (TPU) Senior Attorneys Monique Thomas and Thomas Mennecke participated in the Chhaya CDC Housing Fair, meeting with dozens of tenants and answering questions about rent stabilization. TPU provided information about the rent stabilization law and code and how they provide tenants with limited rent increases and the right to renewal leases, among other things. The Housing Fair brought together over 300 community members curious about housing law and their rights as tenants.

2019

June 2019

  • A joint investigation by the office of NYAG and the TPU, found that Raphael Toledano, founder of Brookhill Properties, has engaged in a pattern of fraudulent and illegal conduct throughout his time as a landlord and developer. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Toledano will have to pay $3 million in damages and penalties, his real estate business will be supervised by an Independent Monitor, will not be allowed to have any direct contact with tenants and will be required to hire an independent management company for any of his properties.  If Toledano violates the terms of the agreement, NYAG will seek a lifetime bar against his further participation in the real estate industry as well as a suspended judgment of $10 million.

April 2019

  • The State reached a $250,000 settlement, based on a TPU investigation, with Chinatown-based landlord, Marolda Properties, Inc., and 10 related LLC’s, for harassing tenants and engaging in a business model that tried to unlawfully force rent-regulated tenants out of their homes. The Asian-American tenants, among them seniors and families, many who have spend decades in their apartments, were threaten with eviction in Housing Court for allegedly living elsewhere when there was clear evidence that they lived, worked, and contributed to the growth of the community. The agreement is the result of investigations by the TPU into Marolda’s business practices that were referred to the NYAG office and covers nine rent-regulated buildings on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

March 2019

  • TPU partnered with the Attorney General to file a lawsuit against Zara Realty Holding Corp., its principals, and affiliated entities for repeatedly violating Rent Stabilization Laws and harassing tenants at their Queens apartment buildings. Zara Realty owns and manages at least 2,500 rent-stabilized apartments in 38 buildings in and around Jamaica, Queens, have taken advantage of their tenants, who are largely immigrant middle and low-income families, by charging them illegal fees and rents, and requiring that they sign illegal leases.

2018

December 2018

  • In 2018 alone, TPU continues to build upon its progress of preserving affordable housing and protecting tenants. The TPU’s Rent Registration Initiative successfully recaptured more than 11,600 units (totaling over 74,000 units) and returned close to $500,000 in overcharged rent (totaling close to $5 million) to tenants who did not know they were paying an unlawfully high rent. The Legal Division continues to investigate tenant harassment and other illegality throughout New York State and is working toward relief for large classes of rent-regulated tenants.

November

  • Settlement agreement with All Year Management and the Governor’s Tenant Protection Unit places the Brooklyn based landlord under an independent monitor for 3 years, requiring All Year Management to immediately make repairs across its entire portfolio of approximately 500 rent regulated apartments or face fines. The settlement comes as a result of a TPU investigation which revealed that All Year Management systematically ignored tenants’ request for repairs, failed to provide tenants with the proper rent regulated lease agreements, and failed to register its regulated buildings with the agency as part of a wide-reaching effort to aggressively harass tenants.

October

  • With the assistance of TPU’s investigation, the NYS Attorney General’s Office, on October 23, 2018, filed a civil lawsuit against Ram and Eldad Cohen, with their real estate company ERC Holding, LLC for allegedly engaging in a fraudulent scheme to avoid paying $479,000 in property taxes, manipulate tenants’ leases, providing fraudulent information to government agencies, including DHCR, and artificially inflating the sale price of the rent-regulated building located at 71-44 160th Street, Fresh Meadows, NY.

April

  • TPU issued a Cease and Desist letter to an Inwood landlord who was issuing unlawful lease riders to 140 tenants in two of their buildings. TPU demanded that the landlord stop using non-conforming riders and ensured that they provided new, lawful riders to their rent stabilized tenants.

February

  • According to a managing member of a corporation that invests in and owns multi-family homes, it seems that, at least to some degree, increased oversight of rent regulation is having an impact on the real estate investment sales market. The cause of the impact may be specifically due to the enforcement activities of the TPU involving audits of buildings, recent criminal convictions of landlords, and a $500,000 settlement with an owner.

2017

December

  • In 2017, TPU built upon its progress of preserving affordable housing. The TPU’s Rent Registration Initiative successfully recaptured more than 5,600 units (totaling over 62,000 units) and returned more than $1.1 million in overcharged rent (totaling approximately $4.35 million) to tenants who did not know they were paying an unlawfully high rent.

September

  • The Governor’s TPU, along with the other members of the Tenant Harassment Prevention Task Force, reached a historic settlement with ICON Realty Management, ensuring that the landlord provide safe living conditions for hundreds of tenants living in its buildings. The Settlement Agreement was the first joint resolution for the Task Force, which was formed to share real-time resources and information and to allow members to ensure comprehensive relief for tenants. The settlement requires ICON to pay $500,000 in penalties, fees, and costs, to hire a third-party administrator to monitor its compliance with the AOD, to overhaul its policies and procedures, and to ensure that future construction work is undertaken in a lawful and safe manner.

June

  • Crown Heights landlord Daniel Melamed and his corporation were found guilty of three counts of Unlawful eviction of rent stabilized tenants.  TPU made a criminal referral regarding Melamed to the New York Attorney General after taking part in a joint task force inspection of 1578 Union Street in Brooklyn and found evidence that Melamed used construction and deprivation of services in an attempt to get rent stabilized tenants to give up their apartments. In addition to providing relevant agency documents and filings to the Attorney General, TPU also provided testimony at the Grand Jury proceedings and the criminal trial.
  • As a result of a TPU investigation and subsequent referral to the New York Attorney General (NYAG), Steven Croman, owner of 140 apartment buildings throughout Manhattan, pled guilty to fraudulently refinancing loans and committing tax fraud as part of a long running scheme to push rent-regulated tenants out of their homes. Croman falsely listed rent-regulated units as market rate units in order to obtain larger loan amounts when his plan to displace rent-regulated tenants failed. Under the terms of his plea, Croman will serve one year of jail time on Rikers Island and pay a $5 million tax settlement.  This is the first conviction based on a referral by the Governor’s TPU that has resulted in a landlord being sentenced to serve jail time.
  • New York State Supreme Court Justice Richard Velasquez dismissed the lawsuit filed in 2014 by owners and owner associations challenging the creation of the TPU and the 2014 amendments to the rent regulations. The Court held that by the virtue of the RSL, the New York State Division of Homes and Community Renewal (DHCR) has the independent authority to investigate overcharges as well as to delegate responsibility by and among its staff and deputies. Accordingly, the creation of the TPU was in accordance with DHCR’s enforcement authority under the Rent Stabilization Law. The Court further held that because the investigation leads to the filing of a complaint before the Office of Rent Administration, where an order is then issued, the claim that the investigation denies owners’ due process is not sustainable. In regards to the 2014 Code amendments, the court held that these amendments by DHCR were in conformance with the statute’s mandating that the regulations “protect tenants and the public interest” as well as being consistent with court decisions both with respect to DHCR’s rule making authority and court decision on each specific subject matter.

May

  • After a referral from the NYAG, the TPU conducted an audit and found that a recently purchased Queens building was receiving a 421-a tax benefit and was in violation of numerous provisions of the RSL and RSC. Based on the investigation, the owner was offered an opportunity to enter into a TPU Corrective Action Plan to remedy violations of the RSL and RSC. From the Corrective Action Plan, the owners of the 9-unit 421-a building (i) returned $5,700.00 in excess security deposits to tenants, (ii) corrected the 2016 legal rent for their units, (iii) issued new rent stabilized leases and appropriate lease riders to tenants, (iv) began working to obtain a Final Certificate of Eligibility as a rental building from HPD and (v) submitted an Owner’s Affidavit of Compliance to TPU.  The owner timely complied with the TPU’s Corrective Action Plan and the TPU investigation was closed without charges.

April

  • As a result of a TPU investigation and subsequent criminal referral, on April 6, 2017, the NYS Attorney General’s Office and the members of the Tenant Harassment Task Force announced that Dean Galasso, a NYC landlord with multiple properties in Manhattan and Queens, was indicted on six felony charges stemming from an alleged scheme to fraudulently obtain a multi-million-dollar mortgage to finance the purchase of 43 Essex Street in Manhattan.

2016

December

  • In 2016 alone, TPU has successfully recaptured another 8,963 units (totaling over 56,000 units) and returned more than $1.3 million in overcharged rent (totaling $3.25 million) to tenants who did not know they were paying more than required by law.

November

  • The enforcement activities of the TPU and the Brooklyn DA’s Office led to guilty pleas for notorious Brooklyn landlords, Joel and Aaron Israel of JBI Management Inc.  Joel and Aaron Israel, along with several corporate defendants, pled guilty to first-degree scheme to defraud and multiple counts of unlawful eviction for unlawfully evicting rent stabilized tenants, illegally destroying their apartments and making them uninhabitable as part of a scheme to collect significantly higher market-rate rents.
  • In the latest enforcement action under the Real Estate Tax Compliance Program, a joint initiative of the TPU, the Attorney General, and HPD to ensure building owners receiving 421-a benefits are in compliance with the law, HPD issued letters notifying owners of 178 residential buildings – with a total of 1,400 rental apartments – that their 421-a tax benefits will be revoked retroactively, if they do not comply with the requirements of the 421-a program, including registering their apartments as rent-regulated.
  • After an investigation initiated by the TPU in 2014, the Governor and the Attorney General announced a lawsuit against Marolda Properties, Inc. and associated landlords for allegedly engaging in deceptive practices and coercion, primarily through filing frivolous lawsuits, as a means to harass Asian-American tenants out of their rent-regulated apartments located in Chinatown and the Lower East Side.

October

  • As a result of a TPU audit of a Downtown Brooklyn building receiving 421-a tax benefits, the building’s owner agreed to refund over $250,000 in rent overcharges to 60 unsuspecting tenants.  In addition to crediting the tenants’ rents, the owner was required to amend its registrations on file with DHCR and issue amended leases to its tenants.

May

  • TPU was asked to assist the New York Attorney General (NYAG) in an ongoing investigation of Steve Croman, owner of 140 apartment buildings throughout Manhattan. After reviewing records and interviewing tenants, the TPU made a formal criminal referral to the NYAG.  On May 9, 2016, the NYAG announced a 20 count indictment of Croman, which includes charges of Grand Larceny, Criminal Tax Fraud, and Falsifying Business Records, with many of the charges based in part on the buildings' rent rolls provided by TPU. 

April

  • During the last four years, the TPU has successfully returned 50,000 improperly deregulated apartments in NYC to rent regulation and restored more than $2.25 million in overcharged rent to tenants.

March

  • TPU, working with the AG's Office and State Senator Jeffery Klein, negotiates re-stabilization of 82 apartments with Bronx landlord.

January

  • TPU announces an award of over $118,000  to a tenant in White Plains, NY whose landlord claimed a significant rent increase from one year to the next based on an IAI but did not substantiate the work. This included almost $65,000 in assessed treble damages.
  • Working with its partners in government, the TPU was able to compel a Bronx landlord to return 82 units to rent regulation and provide rent stabilized leases going forward to affected tenants while addressing their concerns. 

2015

December

  • In 2015 alone, TPU recaptured another 11,433 apartments, bringing the total units returned to rent stabilization to over 47,000, preserving the affordability of those units.
  • TPU launched a major initiative that uncovered the illegal removal of central heating systems in over two dozen rent regulated buildings affecting 145 tenants. Landlords will be ordered to make the necessary steps to rectify their illegal acts, including making a formal application to the ORA, seeking permission to modify their building’s heating/hot water service and implementing a permanent rent reduction for the regulated tenants. Prior to this proactive initiative, the agency would not act on this type of issue without a tenant complaint. 
     
  • Three months after the launch of the Real Estate Tax Compliance Program, the TPU, NYS Attorney General and the NYC HPD announced that 111 buildings encompassing over 1,800 units will be registered as rent stabilized with every tenant notified of their rights under the Rent Laws.  Going forward, for owners that elected not to participate in the compliance program and are depriving tenants of rent stabilized leases, TPU will begin enforcement actions and the City Department of Housing Preservation & Development will commence proceedings to ensure those remaining landlords comply.

August

  • TPU, the State Attorney General’s Office (AG) and NYC Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) join forces to form a Real Estate Tax Compliance Program targeting 194 buildings that are receiving a partial property tax exemption under 421-a and violating rent registration requirements of the Real Property Tax Law and the Rent Stabilization Law and Code.  Working with the AG and HPD, joint letters were sent to owners who are not abiding by rent regulation or co-op-condo laws and failing to register their units –  giving them a one-time opportunity to cure the violations without penalty. The program will ensure that these units are properly registered and further protect rent-regulated tenants.
  • TPU served a comprehensive subpoena on an East Village landlord who has allegedly engaged in the harassment of Spanish-speaking tenants in order to force them out of their rent-regulated apartments. The subpoena seeks to examine the patterns and practice of the owner, the abusive behavior of his agents, the intimidation of Spanish-speaking tenants and the flagrant violations of the rent laws.
  • As a result of TPU’s IAI Initiative, TPU returned $67,000 to dozens of tenants in a Downtown Brooklyn building whose landlord was receiving a 421-a tax abatement.  After receiving the TPU’s initial inquiry letter, the landlord admitted to errors in their rent calculations, agreed to reset the tenants’ rents, re-register the units with the DHCR, and provide new leases going forward at the new lower rent amount.

June

  • As a result of a TPU criminal referral to the NYS AG’s office, the Tenant Harassment Prevention Task Force made its first arrest and took swift action to confront the alleged unlawful actions by a Brooklyn landlord. Commissioner James S. Rubin, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the indictment of the landlord for allegedly created hazardous building conditions to harass and force our rent regulated tenants in Crown Heights.

April

  • Notorious Brooklyn landlords, Joel and Aaron Israel, who were subpoenaed by TPU in April 2014, are indicted by the Brooklyn DA’s Office for destroying their tenants’ apartments in Bushwick, Greenpoint and Williamsburg and trying to force families out of their homes.  TPU’s information about the landlord’s egregious acts and violations of the rent regulations laws helped serve as the basis for the Brooklyn DA’s criminal indictment.
  • Based on TPU’s rent registration initiative, TPU has returned 40,000 apartments back to rent stabilization, preserving the affordability of those units.

February

  • Building on TPU’s individual successes, collaborated with various City agencies and the Attorney General to form the Tenant Harassment Prevention Task Force - a joint task force to address the deregulation and destruction of rent-regulated apartments in North Brooklyn and other neighborhoods throughout the City.

January

  • As a result of a TPU audit and investigation, an Upper West Side landlord who was receiving a J-51 tax abatement agrees to complete a review of the rents for his building, a voluntary adjustment of the rents and to provide all tenants with rent stabilized leases going forward.

2014

December

  • In 2014 TPU recaptured another 9,000 apartments totaling over 36,000 apartments (since 2012) that landlords had improperly deregulated, the largest recapture/re-stabilization by any Governor, saving the state over 2 billion dollars in construction and rehabilitation costs.
  • The East Village landlord who received an August 2014 TPU “Cease and Desist” letter instructing the building’s tenants to vacate their homes based on demolition without filing the legally required documents rescinded his, her or their unlawful letter to his tenants and agreed to a revised schedule to rehab that building that accommodates the tenants needs.
  • The East Harlem landlord who received a July 2014 TPU “Cease and Desist” letter for harassing a long-term tenant based on his, her or their immigration status acknowledged wrongdoing on the part of an employee, agreed to prevent any further harassment and offered to refund overcharged rent.

November

  • TPU starts new proactive audit initiative on apartments in transforming neighborhoods around New York City.

October

  • The state announces the signing of a settlement agreement with a Crown Heights/Flatbush landlord who was subpoenaed in April 2013 for engaging in a pattern of abusive behavior towards his residents and flagrant violation of rent laws.
  • TPU announces the return of over $50,000 to three tenants in the Chinatown/Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan whose landlord claimed significant increases in rent from one year to the next based on IAIs but could not substantiate the work.

August

  • The TPU serves a “Cease and Desist” letter on an East Village landlord who sent a letter to his building’s tenants requiring them to vacate their homes based on demolition without filing the legally required documents.
  • The state announces subpoena served on a Chinatown landlord allegedly harassing primarily elderly Asian-American tenants.
  • TPU investigators, auditors and attorneys have recaptured more than 32,000 units that landlords had failed to register, restoring them to rent regulation, saving the State over a billion dollars in rehabilitation and reconstruction costs.

July

  • The TPU serves a “Cease and Desist” letter on an East Harlem landlord harassing a long-term tenant based on his, her or their immigration status.
  • TPU initiated audits have resulted in restoring more than $600,000 in overcharges to tenants who did not know they were paying more than required by the Rent Laws.

May

  • TPU assists New York State Homes and Community Renewal Housing Finance Agency in the eligibility determination of potential landlords for entitlement to state loans/grants/tax credits, by investigating and vetting a potential landlord's financial soundness and mortgage holdings for signs of overleveraging within their portfolios or allegations of increased tenant turnover through harassment.

April

  • The state announces subpoena served on Brooklyn landlord alleged to have systematically harassed rent-regulated tenants.

February:     

  • The TPU has returned over $220,000 to unsuspecting tenants in rent overcharges.

January:       

  • The TPU has returned more than 28,000 apartments to rent stabilization.
  • The state announces unprecedented agreement with Castellan Real Estate Partners/Liberty Place Property Management to end harassment and compensate tenants, including many who are Spanish speaking or immigrant, in 1,800 NYC apartments.

2013

December

  • The TPU attends tenant meeting in Brighton Beach to address allegations of harassment of seniors in large rent regulated building, and ensures that tenants receive renewal leases.

October

  • The TPU returns over $100,000 to unsuspecting tenants in rent overcharges.
  • The TPU subpoenas a Brooklyn landlord accused of harassing long-time tenants and illegally raising rents in numerous apartments. 

July      

  •  The TPU returns over 20,000 units to rent regulation based on its rent registration initiative.

June      

  • The TPU subpoenas Castellan Real Estate Partners/Liberty Place Property Management in response to allegations of harassment and intimidation of tenants.

May 

  • The TPU settles with one of the subpoenaed landlords who agreed to refund an unsuspecting tenant who was being overcharged - the first action of its kind under the state model.

March

  • The TPU launches more than 600 additional IAI audits in response to significant and  unexplained rent increases reported by owners.

February    

  • The TPU returns over 15,000 units to rent regulation based on its rent registration initiative.

January       

  • The TPU issues the agency’s first ever multiple subpoenas to non-compliant owners (achieving 100% compliance).

2012

December  

  • The TPU returns over 10,000 units to rent regulation based on its rent registration initiative.

October    

  • The TPU expands its investigations with the largest single audit of owners in history of the agency.

June   

  • The TPU launches its first historic initiatives involving rent registration and IAIs.

March 

  • The state creates the TPU.

TPU Major Initiatives

TPU Major Initiatives

Rent Registration Initiative Based on internal data, TPU determined that since 2009, thousands of units that had previously been registering with HCR, had disappeared from the rent registration logs without notice or explanation.  TPU therefore took a proactive approach and notified owners who had failed to register their units since 2009, and required them to either re-register or provide explanation as to why the units were no longer registered. As a result, the TPU has recaptured close to 90,000 apartments that have been re-registered and added back to the rent stabilization rolls (a historic figure), saving the State $2 billion dollars in construction and rehabilitation costs for the replacement of affordable rental housing, and allowing the agency to monitor the rents for those apartments going forward.

Individual Apartment Improvement Audits (IAI) In 2012, the TPU launched the first ever audits of owners who filed IAI increases significantly raising the rent upon vacancy within the last two years. In addition, letters were issued to owners who had provided inadequate responses to the TPU’s initial audit and request, and – for the first time – owners who failed to respond were served with subpoenas for compliance. As a result, owner groups have openly acknowledged heighten level of scrutiny of their business practices and have urged their members to update their business practices accordingly. Further, audited owners have, for the first time, entered into settlement agreements with the TPU agreeing to return money to tenants for overcharges, revise tenant leases and re-register tenant apartments with HCR under the current rents.

The Unit’s actions, along with the strengthening of the rent laws, have turned the deregulation tide, with far fewer units now leaving the system.

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