KMWB Representing Landlord Against Claims of Defrauding 421a Program

Kucker Marino Winiarsky & Bittens (“KMWB”) is representing a prominent landlord in a series of class action lawsuits brought against owners of buildings receiving Real Property Tax Law § 421-a tax benefits.

The landlord offered the tenants a temporary rent concession. The tenants are claiming that the rent concession should be averaged into the legal rent charged and paid by the tenant, thereby creating a “net effective rent” that is lower than the initial legal regulated rent. As a result, the tenants are arguing that the legal rents should be rolled back to reflect such lower rents, and therefore, the putative class members are entitled to overcharge damages.

KMWB believe that temporary limited rent concessions have always been deemed proper by both the Courts and DHCR as legitimate abatements that do not impact or in any way modify the legal rents in the building. Our partner, Nativ Winiarsky, on behalf of KMWB, plans to move to dismiss the lawsuit. The ultimate outcome will no doubt have reverberations throughout the real estate industry.

Our partner, Lisa Faham-Selzer, was quoted in a recent article discussing the lawsuit. Read the full article from The Real Deal here.

Should you wish to discuss how the issues raised in this litigation may impact you, please do not hesitate to reach out to Nativ Winiarsky by telephone at (212) 869-5030 or email [email protected].