BBG Commercial Real Estate Litigation and Landlord Tenant partner Matthew S. Brett was recently quoted in the Law360 article, NY Court of Appeals Ices Free Rent Cases, Redefines Fraud, published on March 26, 2025.
The article covers the unanimous decision in the New York Court of Appeals stating that tenants don’t need to show all the elements of common law fraud to overcome the lookback rule in rent overcharge claims. The court sent the case to the Appellate Division for further proceedings. Regarding the lack of clarity on which law, and which definition of fraud, should now be applied, Matthew commented, “The decision leaves a lot of unanswered questions.”
In the decision, the Court of Appeals also upheld the lower court’s ruling that the landlord’s rent concession was a “limited concession for a specified period,” not an example of preferential rent, which Matthew proclaimed as a “significant victory,” for landlords, adding, “Excellent for owners … I represent owners in at least 20 class action cases concerning 421-a concessions, and this is the first case that really goes to the Court of Appeals and resolves and open issue.”
For more information on the implications of this decision, please contact Matthew, your BBG attorney of record, or use our contact us form.
