New York State’s Court of Appeals sided with landlords yesterday in a decision concluding that rent overcharges shouldn’t be assessed retroactively, and limits the window for complaints to a four-year period proceeding the filing of a complaint, reports Curbed NY.

Tenants rights organizations have roundly criticized the decision, especially as it comes so soon after the enactment of 2019’s new rent laws, meant to protect housing rights and hold landlords accountable for willfully overcharging tenants.

“We are profoundly disappointed,” said Ellen Davidson, a staff attorney in The Legal Aid Society’s Civil Practice Law Reform Unit. “The court decided to look away from years of landlords’ rampant abuse of tenants and give their approval to clearly illegal rents.”