By Tony Richards
Editor-in-Chief

In recent years, longtime Highbridge residents have increasingly expressed the fear that they will be forced out of their homes in the name of gentrification. Particularly within the last year or two, this fear has heightened as large-scale development projects like the new Yankee Stadium project threaten to increase property rents and large investment companies begin acquiring buildings in the neighborhood.

On October 17, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn introduced a new law she promised would —on a citywide level—protect tenants against landlords trying to drive them from their homes in order to charge higher rents. At a press conference on the steps of City Hall, Quinn introduced the Comprehensive Tenant Harassment Bill, which for the first time makes harassment illegal and allows tenants to take their landlords to court for the explicit purpose of alleging harassment. As it stands now, housing courts have not recognized such claims.

“Development and growth in our city is a great thing, and it can do a lot to move neighborhoods forward,” Quinn said, as about 50 to 75 housing advocates from organizations throughout the city stood behind her. “But we need to recognize that with development comes gentrification pressures. We cannot lose any existing tenants in the city of New York.”

Under the new law, a variety of practices on the part of landlords will be classified as harassment, including: Violence or threats against tenants; repeatedly taking tenants to court without justification; cutting off heat, hot water, and other necessities; pressuring tenants to accept buy-outs; and removing a tenant’s possessions. Harassment will also be defined as a class “C” violation of the building code; C violations, labeled as “immediately hazardous,” are the most serious building violations the city can dole out.
If courts rule in favor of tenants alleging harassment, landlords face fines of $1000 to $5000.

Housing advocates said they had noticed landlords using the courts more and more in recent years to harass tenants, constantly dragging them before a judge to answer bogus charges and sometimes even filing several false cases at once. These advocates expressed optimism that the new harassment bill could go a long way towards curbing this practice, both citywide and locally.

“We think it will have a major impact on the Bronx,” said Benjamin Dultschin, deputy director of the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, a coalition of groups that provides and advocates for affordable housing throughout New York City. “Clearly, there’s a lot of real estate investment in the Bronx now. Some of it’s good, but a lot of it is investment that’s seeking to push out the existing tenants.”
Jackie Delvalle, a lead housing organizer for the Community Action for Safe Apartments (CASA) program at New Settlement Apartments, agreed. Delvalle worked several years ago for the Highbridge Community Life Center as a housing advocate, and said one of the major trends she saw during her time in the neighborhood was landlords taking tenants to court for payments they did not actually owe. Delvalle, too, said the new law could bring significant change. “It’s going to keep a lot of tenants in their apartments,” she said.

Not everyone on hand at the press conference was enthusiastic about Quinn’s new law. Frank Ricci, director of government affairs for the Rent Stabilization Association—a group that represents 25,000 property owners and agents throughout the city—said the bill would open the door to tenants to file frivolous harassment suits against their landlords. Ricci said tenants already had the ability to take harassment complaints to the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR). “I think there needs to be some government entity somewhere that at least screens the case before it goes forward in court,” Ricci said.

The law does have some safeguards against frivolous harassment suits. For instance, a landlord can request that the courts review previous legal action by tenants in order to determine if a tenant has filed three previous harassment claims that the court found to be unwarranted. Courts can also grant attorneys fees to property owners in the instance of a frivolous lawsuit. “The only way this is going to overwhelm housing court,” Quinn said at the press conference, “is if landlords are overwhelmingly harassing tenants.”

Another question that remains to be seen is how quickly tenants can expect harassment cases against landlords to move through the legal system. Brian Fitzgerald, an attorney with MFY Legal Services, a group that performs free legal work for low-income clients, said housing court judges had a responsibility to ensure tenant claims were heard in an efficient manner. “Perhaps if the judges were willing to move things along quickly and put a little pressure on landlord attorneys more,” Fitzgerald said, when asked what specific steps could be taken. “And make sure as the case enters the system that the tenant is aware that they have resources available to them.”

Local elected officials said Quinn’s new legislation was much needed in their district and throughout the city. “It’s something I guess is long overdue,” said Councilmember Maria del Carmen Arroyo. “I think it’s a very positive thing for tenants.”

Jim Fairbanks , chief of staff for Councilmember Helen Diane Foster, agreed on both counts. “Thank goodness she [Quinn] did it,” Fairbanks said. “It’s years late, because other speakers were not interested in tenants organizing their buildings and being retaliated against and harassed for organizing.”

Fairbanks said landlords were becoming more and more aggressive as major equity companies moved into the local housing market, and expressed hope that the new law could protect tenants. However, he suggested the City Council needed to take further steps to monitor investment companies and building conditions.

“We need more than a bill to stop retaliation and harassment,” Fairbanks said. “That’s important, but we need funds to do a cellar-to-roof inspection of the entire council district. And we need these home-based programs to keep people from being evicted.”