Six Landlords Sue to Void New York Rent Freeze as Board Faces First Legal Challenge
Updated
Updated · The Real Deal · Jul 22
Six Landlords Sue to Void New York Rent Freeze as Board Faces First Legal Challenge
3 articles · Updated · The Real Deal · Jul 22
Summary
Six landlords filed an Article 78 petition in New York Supreme Court seeking to annul last month’s rent freeze for stabilized apartments and send the issue back for an increase.
The suit says the Rent Guidelines Board ran a predetermined “sham” process, ignored real-estate economic conditions and approved a freeze despite its own data showing landlord operating costs rose 5.3% over the past year.
Former owner representative Christina Smyth, who resigned the morning of the vote, is cited in the petition after calling the board’s process “theater” and no longer a fact-finding exercise.
A judge ordered the city to file its defense in September; a win for the landlords could unwind a key campaign promise of Mayor Zohran Mamdani or reshape how New York sets rent-stabilized increases.
The case is the first challenge to this freeze, though lawsuits against de Blasio-era freezes failed because they focused on whether tenant affordability could be considered at all.