Crown Heights landlord to give tenants rent-stabilized leases in first state settlement
Tenants at 1075 Dean Street will get stabilized leases and any overcharges back. It is the first deal under a state program for buildings that were never registered.
Every apartment at 1075 Dean Street in Crown Heights is going back to rent stabilization. New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the settlement Monday. It is the first one reached under a state program aimed at buildings that should be stabilized but were never registered.
Under the deal, landlord John Anderson will give each tenant a rent-stabilized lease and repair hazardous conditions. He has 120 days from the stipulation to hand out the leases and 180 days to refund any rent overcharges.
How de facto rent stabilization works
In New York City, a building usually falls outside rent stabilization if it went up after 1974 or has fewer than six units. Courts carved out an exception known as de facto rent stabilization. Under it, a pre-1974 building with five or fewer units can become stabilized once it is altered to hold six or more.
The attorney general’s compliance program launched in May 2025. Letters went to more than 50 owners whose buildings had been found to be de facto stabilized. None of those buildings appeared in the records of Homes and Community Renewal, the state housing agency. Each owner was asked to show evidence of an exemption. According to the office, Anderson received his letter in August 2025 and did not comply. James took him to court in June along with the owner of a building on Sackman Street, and they were the first two landlords sued under the program. So far it has stopped 27 evictions and put 131 units back under rent stabilization.
“New York City’s rent stabilization laws are clear, and my office will not hesitate to enforce them,” James said.
What the attorney general alleged at 1075 Dean Street
The attorney general’s office says tenants in the building went a decade without the stabilized leases they were owed. The office also alleges that Anderson misrepresented the building’s status in an application to the Department of Buildings and sent a friend to court posing as him. One tenant has said her utilities, including gas, water and electricity, were shut off by Anderson once she requested a stabilized lease. City records show only three units at the address. Even so, the Department of Buildings has issued Anderson multiple citations for illegal partitions and extensions inside apartments. More than 130 violations on the property remain open.
Quick answers
What is de facto rent stabilization?
It covers buildings from before 1974 that had five or fewer units and were altered to hold six or more. Those buildings can become rent stabilized.
When will Dean Street tenants get their leases?
Within 120 days of the stipulation. Any overcharges must be repaid within 180 days.
