A new law will make it more difficult for the Joshua Guttmans and Joel Weiners of the world to avoid their day in court. Yesterday Mayor Bloomberg signed a bill that gives tenants the right to take naughty landlords to Housing Court. Renters can now bring offending landlords to court for patterns of harassment that more or less boil down to trying to give tenants the heave-ho. The law makes harassment a violation subject to fines of between $1,000 and $5,000. While we believe that the vast majority of landlords throughout the city are responsible and do not engage in tenant harassment, we cannot turn our backs on the bad actors who participate in such behavior, said Mayor Bloomberg. The Rent Stabilization Association, a landlord group, opposed the law. In light of all of the existing remedies that are available to tenants and in light of the failure of any of the bill’s supporters to document or establish any patterns of harassment in the City of New York or any systematic harassment, it leads one to question what the motives behind this legislation really are, said Mitchell Posilkin, the association’s general counsel.
City Passes New Law to Limit Tenant Harassment [NY Observer]
Tenants Gain Right to Sue Landlords for Harassment [City Room]
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