The Housing Rights Initiative, a watchdog group, has reportedly filed a class-action lawsuit against a landlord in Brooklyn whom it alleges is guilty of “systemic, fraudulent and unlawful overcharging of rents” for rent-stabilized apartments.
The lawsuit claims that defendant Jacob Neiss and his firm, 74 Grand Ave. LLC, have not followed rent stabilization law and rent stabilization code.
Neiss and his company “benefit from what is commonly known as the 421-a tax benefit, which provides exemptions and abatements for landlords if they register all apartments in the building as rent-stabilized, charge rents in accordance to the rent-stabilization law and rent-stabilization code, and ensure tenants are notified that their apartments are rent-stabilized,” Crain’s has reported.
However, the Housing Rights Initiative, which has been helping the plaintiffs “who are all current and former tenants of a building at 74 and 94 Grand Ave. in Clinton Hill, says over 200 former and current tenants are entitled to rent refunds and rent reductions that could be well over $1 million because of overcharging,” Crain’s adds.
“Over more than a decade, ownership of the building has been passed through numerous entities of which Neiss is controlling member,” alleges the lawsuit. “Upon information and belief, these transfers were part of a fraudulent scheme involving the abuse of corporate forms by Neiss for the purpose of collecting rents in excess of the allowable rents under the RSL and RSC.”
The Housing Rights Initiative takes a proactive and systematic approach to targeting, investigating, and fighting fraudulent real estate practices and connecting tenants to legal support. Its data-driven model identifies properties where there is a high probability of systematic fraud. We launch investigations and generate class action lawsuits against predatory real estate companies.
Through a legal mobilization effort, the tax-exempt group lays the foundation for tenants who have been defrauded by their landlords, to seek redress and secure their rights under the law.
The organization has done impressive work in the area of tenants’ rights. It has taken action on recent research, for example, that identified what appears to be a widespread practice of age discrimination by real estate owners and broker/agents across the nation, including New York City, which routinely impacts senior citizens and other older tenants and purchasers of housing.
As the group notes on its web site, according to the AARP, “by 2030, one in every five Americans will be over age 65, and our nation will face a severe shortage in appropriate housing to meet their needs.” The AARP has also stated that “one-third of adults (20 million) older than 50 put more than 30 percent of their income toward housing, and 9.6 million adults older than 50 put more than 50 percent of their income toward housing.”
