New York State made serious allegations against a landlord that they had harassed tenants in 6 different rent regulated buildings in New York City over a period of 8 years. The State made 35 allegations that included failures to provide services such as gas, electricity and heat, failure to properly control pests and failure to obtain proper permits for renovation. The Landlord retained ALBPC and Pete Reid was assigned to the case.
Pete Reid subpoenaed records from Keyspan, the Fire Department, NYPD, Con-Edison and the City of New York and compiled this evidence into an extensive timeline spanning several years to show that each and every gas, electrical or heat outage had been timely and properly handled.
Even before the first pre-trial conference, Pete Reid had obtained statements from the exterminators, construction workers, and building supervisors in the buildings to show that the landlords had done everything possible to keep the buildings free of pests and to obtain the necessary permits for construction work.
At the first conference in the presence of the judge, the state attorneys made it clear that there would be absolutely no settlement unless the landlord admitted harassment. However, during a series of meetings with the New York State attorneys in the presence of the assigned judge, Pete Reid and Colin Kaufman were able to produce documentary evidence to counter each and every one of the 35 allegations relating to the buildings.
Following another pre-trial conference with the judge, the state attorneys agreed to remove the claims of harassment for all 6 buildings.
Pete Reid, Adam Leitman Bailey, and Colin Kaufman represented the landlord in this action in front of the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal.
