It has been reported that a spate of litigation has been filed by residential tenants seeking rent abatements from their landlords, on various grounds, as a result of Hurricane Sandy, the unprecedented storm that hit New York City on Oct. 29-30, 2012, leaving hundreds of thousands without electricity, elevator service, heat and/or hot water for several days and longer. Among the most ambitious lawsuits is a proposed class action lawsuit filed by three tenants who are seeking bilateral class status, attempting to add potentially hundreds of thousands of tenants and landlords in the state of New York to the action.1 These actions have opened unchartered legal territory.
Issues raised in these cases include to what extent should residential tenants who lost services due to a natural disaster be entitled to a rent abatement? Also, should all tenants be entitled to a rent reduction for a deprivation of essential services, regardless of the disparate impact of the disaster upon various tenants and without consideration of the landlords’ response?
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