Court Refuses to Dismiss Case Challenging TPU, RSC Amendments

A lawsuit by owner organizations Rent Stabilization Association (RSA), Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP), and the Small Property Owners of New York (SPONY), as well as individual property owners, was filed early this year in Brooklyn State Supreme Court to challenge the January 2014 amendments to the Rent Stabilization Code, as well as the creation of the DHCR’s Tenant Protection Unit (TPU). The court recently denied the DHCR’s motion to dismiss the case, and granted the owners’ motion for discovery. Owners claim that the governor had no authority to create the TPU and that the TPU violates their constitutional rights by demanding that they reduce or refund rents without giving them the opportunity to be heard or to appeal TPU decisions. The governor created the TPU in 2012 and the code amendments formalized its legal status. Owners also challenge 27 provisions of the amended Rent Stabilization Code [Portofino et al. v. DHCR, Index No. 501554/2014 (Sup. Ct. Kings Co.)].