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How NYC rent overcharge cases actually work.

Plain-English deep dives into the patterns we look for in every analysis. Reviewed by New York counsel. Educational only — not legal advice.

Deregulation pattern

J-51 illegal deregulation

If your building took a J-51 tax break, your apartment had to stay rent-stabilized — even if your lease says "free market." Roberts v. Tishman Speyer reversed thousands of illegal deregulations.

6 min readRead

Deregulation pattern

Inflated IAI renovation charges

Individual Apartment Improvement charges are one of the most-abused mechanisms in NYC rent law. Inflated or fabricated IAI claims pushed thousands of stabilized apartments past the deregulation threshold.

6 min readRead

Deregulation pattern

Vacancy bonus stacking

The 20% statutory vacancy bonus was the single most-abused deregulation mechanism before HSTPA closed it in 2019. Stacked, backdated, and fabricated vacancies remain recoverable as overcharges.

5 min readRead

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