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“Undoubtedly, tenants at 63-36 99 Street, a property in my district, are elated by the intervention of the New York State Attorney General’s office on their behalf,” Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz said.
By Forum Staff
State Attorney General Tish James on Monday announced agreements in four cases involving developers failing to comply with rent-stabilization requirements.
The 421-a program provides partial property tax exemptions to real estate developers that build qualifying new housing in New York City. Under New York state law, developers that apply for and receive 421-a tax benefits must register the apartments as rent stabilized and provide the tenants with rent-stabilized leases, rights, and protections, unless the properties are exempt from these requirements because they are operated as a condominium or cooperative. The developers of 63-36 99th St in Rego Park, the Bridgeview Tower Condominium in Long Island City, 5-11 50th Avenue in Long Island City, and 33 Bay 41st St in Brooklyn, all received 421-a tax benefits, but failed to adhere to the relevant requirements.
The final case announced today concerns the sponsor of the Millennium 99 Condominium at 63-36 99th Street in Rego Park, Tuhsur Development, LLC, and its principals, Yan Moshe and Vlad Moshe. The sponsor failed to treat certain tenants in the building as rent-stabilized and overcharged multiple tenants by thousands of dollars each. The sponsor also attempted to evict tenants of a unit, who were illegally overcharged, for non-payment of rent, even though the tenants actually were owed a refund of $22,042. Tuhsur Development was required to pay $159,592 in restitution to be used by HPD to provide affordable housing, $43,066 to tenants that were illegally overcharged, and a $30,000 penalty, as well as lowering the rents of certain units and discontinuing any eviction proceedings against the overcharged tenants.
“Undoubtedly, tenants at 63-36 99 Street, a property in my district, are elated by the intervention of the New York State Attorney General’s office on their behalf,” said City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz (D-Forest Hills). “I want to offer a profound thank you to Attorney General James and her Real Estate Finance Bureau for their activist role in protecting tenants from unscrupulous landlords abusing the 421-A tax exemption program.”
In the case of the Bridgeview Tower Condominium (Bridgeview Tower) in Long Island City, an agreement was reached with the sponsor of the building’s offering plan, Queens Bridgeview Tower, LLC, and its principals Zehao Fang, Simon Hung, and Austin Ting. The sponsor of Bridgeview Tower submitted an application for 421-a tax benefits to the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), indicating that the building would be a condominium and thus not subject to rent-stabilization requirements. OAG subsequently discovered that all residential units in the building eventually became occupied by tenants, but the sponsor failed to treat the tenants as rent-stabilized under the terms of the 421-a partial tax exemption. As a result of the agreement, the sponsor is required to pay a $150,000 penalty, which will be used by HPD to provide affordable housing in New York City. The sponsor also is required to treat all tenants in the building as rent-stabilized and refund any illegal overcharges.
