UES Tenants Say Landlord Is Jacking Up Their Stabilized Rents

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — More than 40 tenants of a major Upper East Side housing complex are suing their landlord, alleging that their rent-stabilized apartments are being illegally deregulated in order to raise prices.

The 48 tenants live in Normandie Court: a four-tower, 1,500-unit complex built in the 1980s and spanning a full block above East 95th street between Second and Third avenues.

Many are elderly and have lived in the complex since shortly after it opened. When it was built, developers Milstein Properties set aside a portion of apartments as affordable, receiving a tax break in return through the city's 421-a program.

In recent years, however, tenants seeking to renew their leases were confronted with big jumps in the asking rent — sometimes as high as 10 percent, the lawsuit contends. That's a tough pill to swallow for tenants like Margaret Bartlett, a retired NYPD employee who lives at Normandie with her children and grandchildren, and who suffers from PTSD and respiratory issues from being present at the World Trade Center on 9/11.

The rent increases were made possible by the expiration of the 421a tax break in 1999, which allows the landlord to deregulate the apartments and raise rents to market-rate — provided that they notify tenants in 12-point font when they renew their leases.

In the suit, the tenants say the notices were written in a font smaller than 12-point — and that the lease renewals incorrectly said the tax break had expired in 1997. The 10-percent rent increases, meanwhile, run afoul of 2019 law that limits the annual rent increases for stabilized tenants.

Tenants filed suit Wednesday in state court against Normandie Court's current owner, Ogden Cap Properties, which was spun off from Milstein after that company's 2003 split. A representative for Ogden declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Happening now: tenants at Normandie Court have been dealing with **10% rent increases** every year after their landlord left the 421a program.

We are going to end 421a in 2022 and we’re going to win Good Cause Eviction for all NYers. #HouseNY pic.twitter.com/YsYW0QDBbS
— Housing Justice For All (@housing4allNY) November 18, 2021

The suit asks a judge to award tenants refunds for the overcharged rent they have paid since 2019, and to force Ogden to offer tenants rent-stabilized renewal leases on their current homes.

Have an Upper East Side news tip? Email reporter Nick Garber at nick.garber@patch.com.