Partner Todd E. Soloway, Chair of Pryor Cashman’s Real Estate Litigation Group, and Counsel Luisa K. Hagemeier have authored an article, “Post-‘Roberts’: How Issues ‘Yet to Be Decided’ Were Decided,” which appeared in the August 29, 2012 edition of The New York Law Journal.

When the New York Court of Appeals held in Roberts v. Tishman Speyer Properties that units in buildings receiving “J-51 benefits” may not be removed from rent regulation, even if deregulation would otherwise be permissible (the Roberts rule), shock waves rippled through the New York City apartment rental industry. Dismissing predictions of dire ramifications for the industry, the court counseled that the scope and application of the Roberts rule depended on the resolution of “issues yet to be decided, including retroactivity, class certification, the statue of limitations and other defenses that may be applicable to particular tenants.”

The Appellate Division for the First Department has, thus far, ruled on the:

• Retroactivity of the Roberts rule:
• Application of the statute of limitations on claims brought in its aftermath; and
• Collateral estoppel effect of administrative orders and stipulations preceding Roberts.

In their article, Soloway and Hagemeier review the current state of the law on these three issues.

To read the full article, please click here.