The Manhattan House has done a good job of pushing its legal battles out of the limelight, instead treating us to revamped floor plans and an appearance on Selling New York, but a group of tenants in the building, which was converted from rental-to-condo back in the mid-aughts, has still been fighting eviction with the new owners. Last we heard, back in September 2010, the tenants had failed in their attempt to enact the Martin Act, but they weren't giving up. Now, the Real Deal reports that the renters can "pursue a retaliation claim against the developers," O'Connor Capital Partners and Richard Kalikow.
The developers say the tenants owe thousands of dollars in rent, having stayed well past the end of their leases, but the tenants say that the developers were only targeting the people who questioned the legality of the conversion. "One of their key legal arguments rested on whether supporters were being asked to pay higher rents than tenants who were unaffiliated with the group," writes the Real Deal. On Wednesday, the State Appellate Division ruled that jude who handed down the decision "'strayed from the mark' by disallowing the retaliatory eviction claim." That's a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo for us, but the bottom line is that the tenants get to stay put. For now.
· Manhattan House Tenants Once Again Escape Eviction [TRD]
· Holdout Manhattan Tenants Foiled In Court Again [Curbed]
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