Pending bill could help landlords avoid backrent claims

A bill pending in the New York State Senate would allow landlords who had improperly deregulated apartments while receiving tax benefits from the city to buy their way out of paying tax breaks, free themselves from back-rent claims and keep their apartments at market-rate rents, according to the New York Times.

The bill comes as a possible solution to a ruling by the New York Court of Appeals in 2009 stating that the owners of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village complexes had falsely deregulated apartments. About 40,000 other apartments in Manhattan were similarly affected by the ruling.

There is still uncertainly surrounding the correct rents for these apartments and how much the tenants should receive in rebates.

If passed, the bill could generate between $100 million to $300 million for the city, said Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York. Opponents claim the bill rewards landlords for breaking the law. [NYT]