the gloves are off

Author: gothamtenantsunion

  • Utility hostility

    Gotham West Management's latest assault on tenants is the elimination of the utility allowance/credit at the time of each lease renewal. Management's flippant explanation to tenants has been that they've simply decided not to "participate" in that any more. Never mind that the utility allowance is included in the HFA agreement and leases. They've simply decided not to "participate" any more as if the monthly utility allowances of $57-70+ have been their "gift" to tenants for the past six years.

    What Gotham West Management told the HFA, however, is quite different. 

    According to Gotham West Management's answer to the HFA, the original managing agent (that would be Rose Associates) misinterpreted the requirement of utility allowances and applied them to not only the income-restricted units but also to the middle-income and moderate-income units. They claim that for six years they've been crediting utility allowances to middle- and moderate- income units when they never had to in the first place. So, now they are going to stop — apparently also trying to eliminate the utility allowances of the low-income units which have utility allowance entitlement in the HFA agreement and their leases.

    Low-income (income-restricted) tenants have experienced nothing short of rude pushback from management about the elimination of the utility allowance. Even a currently dated letter from the Vice President & Compliance Manager at HFA which states that low-income (income-restricted) tenants ARE entitled to a true utility allowance could not change their stance. So unfortunately, these tenants are seeking legal assistance and filing complaints through the DHCR–all of which will end up costing Gotham. There isn't much chance that these tenants will lose their cases.

    Meanwhile, the middle-income and moderate-income tenants are coordinating their efforts through Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal's office which is forwarding their complaints to the DHCR.

    Wouldn't you think that if Rose Associates fouled up so badly by giving away utility allowance amounts to tenants unnecessarily to the tune of at least $2,000,000 over six years, that Gotham Organization would be incensed enough by Rose's ineptness to sue them? But they're not. So why not?

    One possible answer would be that everyone on all sides was in complete agreement at the beginning that all of the low-, middle-, and moderate-income tenants would receive utility allowances/credits. In other words, there was a true meeting of the minds by all involved and that this is precisely how the leases of the First Tenants were explained, agreed upon, and signed. There was never any reference in the leases to an ending date of the utility allowance/credit for these First Tenants. It was never intended to be temporary. A posse of expensive lawyers in Brooks Brothers suits combed over these agreements before the first lease was signed. 

    It is very doubtful that if pressed, Rose Associates would admit to making a multi-million dollar error on the utility allowance/credit issue as Gotham claimed to the HFA. It's doubtful that they would not put up a fight if Gotham tried to recoup that money from them. They would argue that there was indeed a clear meeting of the minds that all three classes of tenants should get the utility allowance/credit. That's precisely where First Tenants in the middle- and moderate- income units should aim in order to get to the bottom of this matter.

    If Rose Associates claims that there was no mistake on their part, and Gotham isn't willing to pursue Rose to recover the millions in allowances which they now claim were mistakenly given, perhaps there was no mistake at all. Perhaps all First Tenants in the middle- and moderate-income units should continue to get their utility allowances because that was everyone's understanding of the agreement at the time of the original leases. Future tenants perhaps will not receive the benefit, but First Tenants should fight with all their might.

     

  • When a landlord says”This doesn’t apply to you but you need to sign it anyway”

    and the form they want you to sign requires you to acknowledge future extra rent increases and the complete deregulation of your apartment, shouldn't that raise a red flag which then bonks you across the bridge of the nose?

    Gotham West Management has been forcing tenants who reside in units with up to 35 years of protective rent restrictions to sign 421a riders in which they agree to future escalating rent increases of 2½% per year and complete deregulation when the building's 421a benefits expire – an event that will occur many years before tenants' rent protections will expire. 

    There is nothing that would prevent Gotham West Management from preparing 421a riders with language that would accurately apply to rent-restricted units, and in fact, outsiders have shown them how to do it. But Gotham West persists in forcing the protected tenants to agree to increases and deregulation that would be illegal if ever applied. 

    They are amassing a mountain of papers which say that you and I agreed to the increases and the deregulation. Ten years down the pike they may wave them in our faces as they're padding our bills and deregulating our apartments. Will it be legal? No. Will they get away with it? They might if it were not for a new piece of legislation that is in the pipeline.

    New York Senate Bill S5651, introduced by our State Senator Brad Hoylman, will make it a criminal misdemeanor with a fine of $1000 or a prison term of up to one year, or both a fine and imprisonment, if a landlord willfully includes incorrect or misleading information in any so-called 421a notice. The bill also prevents the landlord from even including a 421a notice in a tenant's lease if that tenant's apartment will remain subject to rent regulation or rent control after the expiration of 421a benefits.

    The legislation was created during the fury of last spring's rent reforms but finished too late to make it to the Senate floor for a vote. It did, however, pass the Judiciary Committee. S5651 has a sister-bill in the Assembly, A7990, which was introduced by Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal. 

    We will resume the push on these bills in January.

     

     

  • If you want to lose your apartment

    at Gotham West, be sure to sign the suspicious low-income lease rider that Gotham West management is sending to tenants in low-income (income-restricted) apartments. Specifically, these riders are coming from Alany Coello, Compliance Specialist, and are made to look like they are part of the annual financial certification. They ARE NOT a legitimate element of the annual financial certification. But Gotham West management is trying to coerce tenants into signing the riders by misrepresenting through trickery that the riders are a requirement of the annual certification.

    These riders contain a new Reassignment Right for the landlord which says in effect that the landlord can move you out of your apartment and into another apartment when your lease comes up for renewal. For example, if your home is in the 550 building, you might end up being uprooted and moved to the 510 building or possibly even to another one of Gotham Organization's properties like the dilapidated Atlas building on Sixth Avenue. The point is that Gotham wants you to give them permission to treat you like chattel — a tax credit that they can move around from place to place when it benefits them.

    Lease renewals are legally required to be offered with the SAME terms and conditions as the original lease. If you will look at the Low Income Rider on your original lease, you will NOT SEE any Reassignment Right that says the landlord can move you around like a homeless person in a shelter. There SHOULD NOT be such a term in the renewal rider. But Gotham wants to TRICK you and COERCE you into giving them permission to move you out of your home and into a unit that they think is more appropriate for a low income person. Further, they want to be able to harass you by threatening to move you out of your apartment if you don't comply with all of their requests or, good heavens, aren't wearing stylish clothes that give the appearance of wealth.

    SHAME ON DAVID PICKET, OWNER OF GOTHAM WEST AND GOTHAM ORGANIZATION, FOR TRYING TO CHEAT AND TRICK TENANTS OUT OF THEIR APARTMENTS.

    Don't be fooled and don't sign the rider. If you begin receiving communications from Gotham that say things like "if you want to stay in your apartment" or "if you want to remain here" or "we will have to end your lease" as coercion to sign the rider, see an attorney at Housing Conservation Coordinators on 10th Avenue, call Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal's office, call Corey Johnson's office, call State Senator Brad Hoylman's office, start calling housing lawyers who will want to assess how big of a case they can make out of your problem. In the instance of this new rider, it would seem that a big, profitable case might be waiting for someone.

    Don't sign away your rights. Don't let your neighbor sign away his or her rights.

    By the way, on December 7th from 9:30-4:00, the 14th Annual West Side Tenants' Conference will be held at Fordham School of Law at Lincoln Center. Don't let this opportunity pass by. RSVP on the HCC website or phone 845-367-7003 or email jfurlong@hcc-nyc.org.

    WSTC2019

  • Welcome to all Gotham West NYC tenants

    Due to the escalating number of occurrences in which Gotham Organization's management has overcharged tenants and stripped tenants of rights guaranteed by their leases and/or Gotham West's owner's agreement with the New York Housing Finance Authority (HFA), it has becoming necessary to begin the process of formally organizing.

    You are invited to participate on this site through comments – particularly if you are a tenant in Gotham West at 510 W. 45th St., 511 W. 44th St., 530 W. 45th St., or 550 W. 45th St. If you reside in another Gotham Organization property and are aware of shady dealings, please feel free to contribute. Click on the individual post title to either read or write comments.

    Email addresses are required for all comments but will never be published. Anyone who wants their own email published should put it in the text of their comment. It is recommended that you not use your real name or apartment number since we're sure that Gotham West Management will have their eyes on this site day and night. Comments are moderated and will appear after site administrators have reviewed them. If the comment requires revision, site administrators will email the contributor — that's the only reason emails are required.

    Now, let's get down to business.