Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association

As anyone exposed to radio, TV or a newspaper knows by now, the interim agreement in the Roberts case, which temporarily kept rents in check, expired on Wednesday, December 15.  For the 4,000 nervous Stuy Town and Peter Cooper lease holders of formerly market rate apartments, the explanation that follows has been provided by the law firm of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz, which represents the tenants in the class action:

“The rent agreement that set rents at the lower of their lease rent or an estimated stabilized rent for 2010 technically expired on December 15, 2010. However, CW Capital has agreed not to issue renewal notices that raise rents above those permitted in the rent agreement through the end of the year. Accordingly, any tenant who is scheduled to renew before April 15, 2011 will not be asked for a rent increase above that permitted by the interim agreement.

“If the parties do not settle the case within the next two weeks, or if CWCapital does not agree to extend the rent agreement further, the tenants’ lawyers in the Roberts case will ask the court to prevent CWCapital from seeking to raise rents even after April 15, and until the litigation is resolved. Unfortunately, the lawyers cannot predict if the Court will grant that application. If the Court denies the application, rents may well rise for renewals scheduled to go into effect after April 15, 2011.

“CWCapital has agreed, however, that every former market tenant will continue to be treated as a rent stabilized tenant. Thus, every current tenant who is in compliance with their lease should receive an offer of a one- or two-year renewal within 120 to 90 days before their current lease expires. Any tenant who fails to get such a renewal offer within that time frame should contact the leasing office. If the leasing office does not provide the renewal notice, the tenant should inform Michael Liskow of the Wolf Haldenstein firm at (212) 545-4600 or electronically at liskow at whafh dot com.”