The Legal Aid Society filed this amicus brief in support of the prospective application of Part F of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (HSTPA). Part F sought to ensure that tenants “are not left paying more than they should.” In other words, it sought to prevent the future collection of illegally inflated rents resulting from years of inadequate enforcement of rent stabilization laws by the state. In our brief, we argued that Part F’s revised rules should apply to post-2020 claims brought by rent-stabilized tenant who alleged that her rent had been unlawfully inflated due to her landlords’ false claims of apartment improvements made in 2014.

The courts below ruled in the landlord’s favor, finding that Ms. Harvey could not challenge a rent increase from 2014 because application of Part F to rent increases predating the HSTPA was unconstitutionally retroactive. In our brief, we explained that applying Part F to the calculation of rents charged after the HSTPA’s effective date posed no retroactivity issue, and that, even if it did, that any retroactive effect would have a rational basis and would therefore be constitutional. The Appellate Division agreed with the principles underlying our analysis, and unanimously reversed the court below.