June 6, 2016

New York announced a settlement with 165 West 91st Street Holdings, LLC, a Manhattan developer, for the loss of two rent-controlled apartments in an Upper West Side building while it was being converted into a condominium, as a result of prohibited agreements to buy-out tenancy rights. The settlement requires the developer to pay a $540,000 penalty, $490,000 of which will go to the New York City Affordable Housing Fund created by the Attorney General’s office in order to compensate for lost affordable housing. The Martin Act, New York’s blue sky law, protects apartment purchasers and tenants in buildings that are converted to coops or condominiums. Tenants get an exclusive right to buy their units and, in most cases, cannot be evicted purely because the building is being converted. NY

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