The planned 15% retroactive reduction on apartment rents in Kingston has been voided by a New York State Supreme Court judge.
According to a report in the real estate trade journal GlobeSt.com, State Supreme Court Judge David Gandin ruled the Kingston rent guidelines board lacked the authority to unilaterally reduce rents. The board oversees setting rent adjustments in buildings with six or more units built before 1974, which would cover 64 Kingston buildings encompassing 1,300 units; Kingston”™s vacancy rate is 1.5%. But there is no precedent for the board to order the lowering of rents, although under state law a vacancy rate under 5% is considered a housing emergency that could be used to enact stabilization.
The judge also dismissed the complaint brought by the plaintiff in the case, Hudson Valley Property Owners, that the board used improper data when enacted the rent control measure. That group insisted the city polled only one-third of property owners regarding vacancies and determined that properties where the landlord did not respond to their poll as being fully occupied.
Both the opponents and the supporters of the 15% rent reduction insisted they would appeal the ruling.
