The Legal Aid Society and Legal Services NYC filed a motion on behalf of Tenants and Neighbors and the Met Council on Housing, asking the court to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a group of landlords seeking to block a recently approved rent freeze for more than 2 million New Yorkers in rent-stabilized housing.  

The freeze was passed by the New York City Rent Guidelines Board – an independent board tasked with deciding how much rent for stabilized units can increase each year – in June following a months-long research process that included seven public meetings, four public hearings, and the Board’s review of hundreds of written and oral comments from tenants and owners. Despite this, the landlords’ lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court in Staten Island, claims that the Board lacked sufficient evidence to justify passing a freeze.

“The Rent Guidelines Board exists to weigh independent data alongside tenant and landlord testimony to make an informed decision about whether to raise rents for millions of predominantly low-income New York City renters,” said Edward Josephson, Supervising Attorney in the Civil Law Reform Unit at Legal Aid.

“This year’s process — which ultimately resulted in a critically needed rent freeze — was no different than in past years,” he continued. “Landlords’ claim that the Board relied on cherry-picked data is simply false, and this lawsuit is nothing more than a callous attempt to raise rents on their tenants yet again. At a moment of historic unaffordability across the five boroughs, we look forward to defending this long-overdue rent freeze in court on behalf of the millions of low-income tenants who depend on it.”