First no gas, now a lawsuit plagues 500 W. 235th

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When Christopher Ford moved into his apartment at 500 W. 235th St., nearly a decade ago, he was offered a rent of just over $1,490.

While that might be a pretty good deal in today’s real estate market, the Yonkers school teacher felt he’s been overcharged from the beginning. And now Ford is one of more than a couple dozen tenants suing his landlord, Parkoff Operating Corp., to get those overpayments back — plus interest.

The class action suit was filed last month in state court in New York County. It targets four properties owned and operated by Parkoff, including 500 W. 235th, claiming Parkoff failed to make necessary improvements to many of its units to justify rent increases.

“The lady who was there before I moved in paid $670 in rent,” Ford said. “When I moved in, it went up 124 percent, and in order to justify that, they would have to put in $26,000 in repairs. And when I look around, I simply don’t see that.”

Parkoff, like many landlords in New York, participate in what is known as the J-51 tax benefit program. It’s designed to encourage landlords to renovate older buildings by offering a tax rebate as high as 12 percent or more.

However, landlords can only raise rent — even for new tenants — using a system that is commensurate with how much renovation was done in the particular unit before the tenant moves in. 

Parkoff, according to the lawsuit, collected those tax benefits over the years, but still raised rents on tenants without making the necessary improvements to the units.

Parkoff did not return a request for comment.

“These landlords are caught redhanded,” said Peter Safirstein, an attorney with Safirstein Metcalf who represents the tenants in the suit. “Now it’s really up to them on how they want to handle it. But they have to prove they’ve done the work.”

If not, tenants like Ford not only get refunded any overpayments, but the landlord could be forced to write new leases for the affected tenants, ensuring they’re charging the correct amount of rent moving forward.

The lawsuit puts 500 W. 235th back in the spotlight. Last spring, tenants there enlisted the help of Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz because they had gone months without gas. Now the complex joins three other Parkoff properties in Manhattan having to defend its rent pricing tactics.

The biggest obstacle for many of these residents, however, is knowing they have a legal case to begin with. Housing Rights Initiative, a nonprofit that advocates for tenants, had zeroed in on Parkoff last year. Once word got out in the buildings, more tenants stepped forward.

Organizing lawsuits like this is what motivates Housing Initiative to keep going, said Aaron Carr, the group’s founder and executive director.

“Rent is the single biggest expense for tenants in New York City,” he said. “When a landlord defrauds a tenant, they are not just stealing that tenant’s money, but their food, their health care, and their quality of life.”

While no gas and now a class action suit can’t be helping 500 W. 235th’s reputation, Ford said he simply wants to do what’s right for his neighbors.=

“It’s certainly good that we’re doing something proactive about it,” he said. “This community is getting older. There’s going to be more vacancies and an influx of other people coming in. We have to make sure that all of them are being treated fairly, and are being charged fairly.”

CLARIFICATION: Christopher Ford’s rent at 500 W. 235th St., started at $1,490. The $820 figure used in a July 20 story about the lawsuit against his landlord was the difference between the offered rent and what Ford and his attorney believed it should be.

Christopher Ford, 500 W. 235th St., Parkoff, Peter Safirstein,

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