Forest Hills Tenants Say Landlord Overcharged Them: Lawsuit

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — Residents of a Forest Hills apartment building are suing their landlord for shirking rent regulations and overcharging them.

A judge has granted tenants of 111-32 76th Ave. class-action status for the lawsuit, which alleges that their landlord destabilized apartments while continuing to accept tax breaks under a state program that only applies to owners of rent-regulated apartment buildings.

The landlord also failed to register the apartments with the state, didn't give tenants rent-stabilized leases, improperly deregulated apartments and increased rents beyond what the city's rent guidelines board allowed.

"It is our position that this particular landlord shamefully failed to register its units, or to otherwise comply with the rent laws, for at least a decade," the plaintiffs' lawyer, Lucas Ferrara of Newman Ferrara, said.

"Just because the building was located in an outer borough afforded this landlord no immunity from suit," Ferrara added. "Judgment day awaits.”

The landlord operates under the shell company 111-32 76th Avenue LLC, which is registered to a Brooklyn address, state corporation records show.

That address appears to be linked to Ephraim Landau, who was on the city's 2018 landlord watchlist.

Attempts to reach Landau for comment Thursday were unsuccessful. Reached by phone, an employee of Landau & Landau Real Estate said he doesn't think Landau manages the building anymore but could not name the current owner.

At least 40 current and former tenants will be eligible to join the class action, according to the four plaintiffs who filed the suit. Residents who live or formerly lived in deregulated apartments while the landlord was getting tax breaks under the state's J-51 program can join.

An investigation by non-profit housing watchdog group Housing Rights Initiative dug up the findings that prompted tenants to sue.

The group estimates that the landlord owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent refunds.

"It’s time for New York State to have a serious conversation about the enforcement of our rent stabilization system," Housing Rights Initiative executive director Aaron Carr said in a statement. "The customary indifference to fraud is beyond comprehension and belief."