MetLife, Stuy Town Tenants Settle Lawsuit

MetLife Inc. recently agreed to settle a 2007 lawsuit by tenants of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village who claimed they were charged too much rent to live in Manhattan's largest apartment complex.

Settlement terms were not disclosed. MetLife revealed the accord in its annual report filed recently with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A lawyer who represents the tenants said the accord covers “several thousand” tenants whose rent-regulated apartments were converted to market rents between January 2003 and November 2006. The accord requires approval by New York State Supreme Court Justice Richard Lowe in Manhattan.

However, CWCapital, a special servicer representing bondholders that now control the complex after Tishman missed a debt payment, have not settled with the tenants, who are seeking roughly $215 million in their lawsuit.