City must pay landlord back rent under court decision.The City of New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , which leases thousands of SF of space around the five boroughs, has a history of bullying property owners when they try to collect or raise rents. But the tide may be turning in favor of property owners who lease all that space to the city. In a ruling issued late last week, Manhattan Civil Court Judge Carol R. Edmead ordered the city to pay back rent in the amount of $342,819 for space it leased at 1490 Madison Ave., marking a rare occasion that a property owner took on the city for nonpayment of rent and won at trial. The city's Human Resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. Administration, which leased the entire second floor of the property at 1490 Madison Ave., had refused to pay rent increases under their lease from March 1995 through December 2001, claiming that the landlord was not entitled to the money until certain renovation work was completed. The landlord testified at trial that the city had been notified about the rent increase in a March 1993 letter saying "the new rent will be payable upon the signing of the lease rather than at the completion of site improvements, as is customary in our industry." In a decision released on Nov. 22, Judge Edmead wrote: "This court concludes that the petitioner has established that the rent escalations commencing March 24, 1995 and thereafter were not conditioned upon substantial completion of the work and that the respondent (City) failed to pay rent in accordance with such terms." Jonathan H. Newman, a partner at Finkelstein Newman LLP LLP - Lower Layer Protocol (www.finkelsteinnewman.com), a law firm specializing in real estate litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. , represented 1490 Madison Avenue Madison Avenue, celebrated street of Manhattan, borough of New York City. It runs from Madison Square (23d St.) to the Madison Bridge over the Harlem River (138th St.). In the 1940s and 50s, some of the major U.S. Operating Company operating company A business that engages in transactions with outsiders. , the owner and landlord in the lawsuit. "This decision is great for landlords who operate in the five boroughs and who lease property to the city," said Newman. "The city often flexes its considerable legal muscle to intimidate in·tim·i·date tr.v. in·tim·i·dat·ed, in·tim·i·dat·ing, in·tim·i·dates 1. To make timid; fill with fear. 2. To coerce or inhibit by or as if by threats. property owners from collecting rents that they are clearly entitled to by law. Hopefully, this victory will ensure that landlords who lease to the city will now have an easier time collecting their rents -- and won't be intimidated." |
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