Eileen O'Toole's blog

As part of the amendments to the Rent Stabilization Code issued in January 2014, the DHCR changed the way it treats “immediately hazardous” violations, also known as Class “C” violations, that are in effect during the processing of an owner’s application for rent increases based on major capital improvements (MCIs). Immediately hazardous violations typically reflect conditions that pose a threat to life, health, safety, property, the public interest, or a significant number of persons so as to warrant immediate corrective action.

In October 2009, New York State’s highest court dealt a devastating blow to the owners of the Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village complexes in Manhattan when it ruled that they improperly began charging market rents on thousands of apartments. In a 4-to-2 decision, the court said that the owners improperly deregulated apartments and raised rents beyond legal levels at the complexes while receiving J-51 tax breaks from the city for major renovations [Roberts v. Tishman Speyer Properties, 13 NY3d 279 (Ct. App. 2009)].