KINGSTON – Landlords in the City of Kingston have filed an Article 78 proceeding in State Supreme Court seeking to overturn the common council’s decision to continue a housing emergency and maintaining its rent control policy.
Richard Lanzarrone, property owners’ spokesman, said they contend the city’s vacancy rate has risen and is above the state cutoff.
“The Kingston City Council, bowing to political pressure from tenant-activists, decided to just basically tried to change the numbers or ignore their own very carefully done vacancy study, and voted to continue rent control even though they are not legally permitted to do so,” he said.
Meanwhile, Xaver Kandler, political director for activist group For the Many, said they are not surprised to see landlords take the issue to court.
“It’s the same tactic from the same playbook they’ve used over and over, in Kingston and in cities across New York. They will lose again in Kingston, but it’s ridiculous this is being re-litigated,” he said.
“The Rent Emergency Stabilization for Tenants (REST) Act would put an end to frivolous lawsuits like these once and for all, giving cities like Kingston the strong and clear authority to stabilize rents and protect tenants without being dragged into court by deep-pocketed property owners,” Kandler said
“This new legal action underscores why it’s so urgent state lawmakers pass REST as soon as possible this session,” he said.
Faced with the same issues, the cities of Poughkeepsie and Newburgh saw their rent control thrown out by the courts.
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