Court: Rent-Stabilized Tenants Can File Class-Action Suits for Overcharges

The state's highest court recently ruled that rent-stabilized tenants can file class-action lawsuits against their landlords to recover rent overcharges. Owners had argued that because the rent stabilization law allows tenants to receive punitive damages of up to three times the amount of the overcharge, lawsuits had to be filed and argued individually.

In its 4-to-2 decision, the Court of Appeals upheld lower court rulings that allowed the class-action lawsuits as long as the tenants were seeking to recover overcharges only and not also receive punitive damages.