Nearly 60 tenants of the major Manhattan landlord Stellar Management have filed a class-action lawsuit saying the company has reaped millions in tax breaks while illegally gouging residents.
The Manhattan Supreme Court suit says Stellar claims tax benefits under the J-51 program but then doesn’t abide by rent-stabilization limits.
“In one especially heinous example, Stellar Management re-stabilized an illegally deregulated unit at a rental amount 257 percent higher than at which it had previously been registered,” according to a press release by the nonprofit Housing Rights Initiative.
The group says Gov. Cuomo should do more to crack down on J-51 fraud. The program gives developers tax benefits in exchange for updating apartment buildings.
A spokesman for Stellar said, “We have serious concerns about the validity of both the merits and motivations underlying this suit and will vigorously defend against these claims.”