This decision involved a summary non-payment proceeding seeking $248 in rent that the respondent “never owed.” The court had to “determine whether to sanction (landlord)” for “frivolous conduct in violation of 22 NYCRR 130-1 (Rule 130).”

The landlord’s subject 164-unit rent-stabilized building was “one of over forty buildings owned by its parent company (“A”).” “A” is well acquainted with the requirements of the (NYC) Rent Stabilization Law (RSL), “both by virtue of its portfolio of over 1,000 units and given its involvement in an enforcement action commenced by the (NYS Attorney General) (AG) in 2019…” The AG had accused “A” of “flouting the RSL by, among other things, charging illegal broker fees to affiliated entities to extract ‘key money,’ imposing unlawful vacancy and late fees, and improperly charging tenants for copies of keys…”