Monday, October 26, 2009

Stuy Town tenants victorious

From NY1:

The state's highest court Thursday ruled that the owners of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village in Manhattan improperly charged market rents on thousands of apartments.

The court decision could now affect landlords across the city.

In the 4-2 decision, the court said owners Tishman Speyer Properties and BlackRock Realty illegally raised the rent on regulated apartments in the middle-class enclave.

The court found that rents were hiked above market rates, while the owners collected city affordable housing tax breaks for renovations.

The owners, as well as former owner MetLife, may have to refund about $200 million in overcharges and damages to tenants of approximately 4,000 apartments.

Tishman Speyer and Black Rock Realty bought the complexes in 2006 for $5.4 billion, and they are reportedly in deep financial trouble and in danger of defaulting on a $4 billion loan.

7 comments:

Suzannah B. Troy artist said...

Yeah!

Anonymous said...

MetLife sure was the Winner in that deal

It should have sold for 3bill or less...

The problem with rent stabilization in the city has always been there is no incentive for a landlord to just paint and raise the rent $50

Instead i have seen $3000 viking gourmet stoves in a 6th floor walk up....$75 extra per month(1/40) for life

Anonymous said...

I hope this translates into one less homeless person sleeping on the streets. It breaks my heart to see homeless people, last night under a scaffolding in front of a furniture store, five or six elderly homeless were huddled under blankets.

The irony was not lost on me, the empty beds and couches made up so nicely for display. And those so in need of a warm, safe place to lay down their heads.

this is a very wealthy country, why do we tolerate people being treated like this?

Queens Crapper said...

We didn't but the courts said we had to allow the mentally ill to live on the streets if they insist, which is what is really going on when you see someone sleeping outdoors.

Anonymous said...

be careful what you wish for - now stuy town will go down the drain when they become just one more foreclosure - do you think tenant services will get better? or worse?

Anonymous said...

Hundreds of Sty Town residents are illegally subletting.

Anonymous said...

There are some very wealthy residents living in Sty Town. How do you get an apartment there???? I want to apply.