For the Many and Kingston Tenants Win Huge Victory in Rent Stabilization Case
ALBANY, N.Y. – In a remarkable victory for tenants and the housing justice movement, the New York Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld rent stabilization and a historic rent reduction in the City of Kingston, the only upstate city to successfully adopt rent stabilization since the passage of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) in 2019. In the matter of Hudson Valley Property Owners Association Inc. v. City of Kingston, the state’s highest court affirmed the validity of a 2022 vacancy study that allowed Kingston to opt into the Emergency Tenant Protection Act (ETPA), leaving the city’s housing emergency declaration and rent stabilization measure in effect.
In a full legal victory for the city, the Court of Appeals also upheld “fair market rent” guidelines set by the Kingston Rent Guidelines Board that allow tenants to apply for refunds if they were overcharged for rent during a period between 2019 and 2022, and affirmed the appellate court’s ruling that a -15% rent adjustment for all rent stabilized units in the city was permissible. The court’s decision means that thousands of Kingston tenants will be able to stay in their homes and receive rental relief via the rent reduction, which could now be adopted by other municipalities’ Rent Guidelines Boards as well.
Overall, the ruling will cement stronger rent regulation authority for municipalities and solidify the tenant protections enabled by HSTPA, leading to more predictable rents for tenants, legal avenues to challenge overcharges, and more accountability for landlords. This decision by the Court of Appeals could shift economic and legal leverage toward tenants and away from the real estate lobby and greedy corporate landlords—a huge win for renters and housing advocates alike.
“Today’s decision from the New York Court of Appeals is a monumental victory not just for Kingston tenants, but for renters across the state,” said Brahvan Ranga, Political Director at For the Many. “The Court has just cemented the first government-mandated rent reduction in US history, affirming that rent stabilization is a legal, critical tool to address the housing crisis. This extraordinary win underscores the importance of everyday people organizing to protect our communities and ensure they remain affordable for all residents, not just the wealthiest few. Today’s decision should inspire renters in every corner of the state to organize, push their cities to opt in to rent stabilization, and demand protections from rent hikes and displacement.”
“This legal victory is a win for every tenant in the state of New York. For too long, landlords have held all the power, while tenants have been forced to endure an unfair and unaffordable housing system,” said Jenna Goldstein, Ulster County Community Organizer at For the Many. “But now, the two highest courts in New York have sided with renters and confirmed what we’ve known for years: greedy, opportunistic landlords will always price gouge when given the opportunity, and have been doing so in an extreme way in Kingston since at least 2019. Tenants are owed a 15% rent reduction. This decision is a powerful affirmation that housing is a human right—and that organized tenants can win against even the most entrenched real estate interests.”
The Court of Appeals rejected several arguments made by the Hudson Valley Property Owners Association, a group of highly litigious landlords that has brought bad faith lawsuits against multiple New York municipalities, tenants, and advocacy organizations that have attempted to opt into ETPA. The Court of Appeals invalidated landlords’ foundational claim that Kingston’s housing emergency declaration was illegally implemented by ruling that the city’s vacancy study, which returned a vacancy rate below 5% as required by ETPA, was reasonable. Additionally, the court sided against landlords’ claim that the “fair market rent” guideline allowed for unfair retroactive refunds, upholding the refund mechanism. Tenants will now be able to file complaints with the State Department of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) and apply for rent refunds.
Critically, today’s ruling upholds local Rent Guidelines Boards’ ability to enact reductions when setting rent adjustments annually. The court agreed with a lower court ruling that found that ETPA does not require rent adjustments solely be increases, establishing that the law does allow for negative, across-the-board adjustments. This sets a precedent for other municipalities that are grappling with exorbitant rent increases to lower rental prices for stabilized units, should they opt into ETPA.
“We are pleased but not surprised that the court properly applied the law in upholding critical tenant protections,” said Marcie Kobak, Director of Litigation at Legal Services of the Hudson Valley, who represented tenants in the lawsuit.
“Today’s welcome decision from the Court of Appeals is a relief for my rent-stabilized constituents in the Hudson Valley, who have been living with uncertainty for three years in the face of this frivolous lawfare from deep-pocketed real estate firms,” said Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha. “Cities and towns across New York State must have the tools to implement the tenant protections we know make sense—without the threat of a costly lawsuit hanging over their heads. I am proud to sponsor the Rent Emergency Stabilization for Tenants Act (REST) to expand rent stabilization to more and more households in the Hudson Valley.”
“This ruling affirms what we’ve known all along: local communities have the right to take action to protect residents from skyrocketing rents and housing instability. Rent stabilization gives Kingston’s working families, seniors, and longtime residents the security they need to stay in their homes and remain a part of our community. Now that the legal uncertainty is behind us, we can fully implement rent stabilization, ensure tenants are being treated fairly, and continue fighting for safe, stable, and dignified housing for all Kingston residents,” said Kingston Common Council Alder Michele Hirsch (Ward 9).
“This decision is an enormous victory for thousands of Kingston tenants who have anxiously waited three years to know if they can afford to live in their home. Their organizing, community building and resiliency has paid off. The tenants and workers of Kingston will always beat greedy out of town landlords,” said Kingston Common Council Alder and ETPA tenant Michael Tierney (Ward 2).
“Landlords can waste their money all they want on lawsuit after lawsuit. But the courts have been clear over and over again: tenants have the right to stay in our homes, whether through rent reductions, rent stabilization, or Good Cause. The real estate industry may have deep pockets, but tenants are half the state. We will keep fighting — and winning — until every New Yorker has a stable home,” said Cea Weaver, Director of Housing Justice for All.
“Kingston tenants are the heart and soul of this city. They work long shifts at the hospital, they drive the buses, they cook and serve the food in every restaurant and cafe. However, for the last few years tenants have been increasingly pushed out of this community. Between 2017 and 2022, rent doubled in Kingston, and too many people were forced to leave. Because of the 100+ tenants who fought for this historic decision, thousands of tenants are now owed rent reductions and refunds from greedy landlords who have been robbing them of their wealth, their time, and their safety for far too long. This is a wake up call. Tenants: if you organize, you have the power to win a better life. Landlords: no longer will you be able to screw people over with impunity. A new day has come,” said June Nemon, Co-Chair of Mid-Hudson Valley Democratic Socialists of America.
For the Many, along with Citizen Action of New York and several Kingston tenants, became parties to the lawsuit in 2022, when the Hudson Valley Property Owners Association (HVPOA) initially challenged the city’s housing emergency declaration. The landlord group has repeatedly attempted to circumvent the democratic process through lawfare by targeting vacancy studies to get housing emergency declarations overturned in several cities. In the unfortunate cases of the cities of Poughkeepsie and Newburgh, HVPOA has succeeded, but today’s ruling could set the stage for renewed attempts to establish rent stabilization in those localities.
Following the state legislature’s passage of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) in 2019, Kingston became the first upstate city to establish rent stabilization, which had previously been restricted to New York City and its suburbs. Kingston was able to opt into ETPA after a study revealed a vacancy rate of 1.57% for qualified properties, well under the 5% vacancy threshold required by ETPA. The outcome of Kingston’s study, which has since been validated by two lower courts, allowed the city to appoint the KRGB to set an annual rent adjustment rate.
In response to rapidly increasing rents and price gouging by landlords, the KRGB decided to enact a 15% negative rent adjustment, becoming the first municipality in the United States to require a rent decrease. Previously, in other parts of the state, RGB annual rent adjustments were positive, allowing landlords to increase rents annually, or rents were frozen; The enforcement of the rent reduction enacted by the KRGB has been stalled as HVPOA’s case made its way through the courts. KRGB subsequently voted to freeze rents in Kingston multiple years in a row and is currently considering another rent freeze, which will be decided on June 26th.
Following the Court of Appeals’ decision to uphold the negative rent adjustment, organizers and attorneys will now turn toward enforcement to ensure tenants receive the reductions they are legally due. Tenants seeking assistance filing complaints are encouraged to contact For the Many’s tenant hotline at 845-481-0882 or visit housingforthemany.org.
