New York Landlord Settles Tenants' Harassment Suit

Under the terms of the settlement, the landlord, the Pinnacle Group, will pay $2.5 million to legal and tenant-rights groups to help current and former tenants make legal claims for damages. The $2.5 million is separate from any damage awards. A court-appointed claims administrator will hear the complaints and decide whether to award compensation.

The Pinnacle Group, which owns about 15,000 apartment units citywide, must also set up a help line and follow new protocols like carefully notifying tenants of plans to increase rents or start evictions.

Tenant advocates and housing experts hailed the settlement, which was reached in early August and announced last week, for strengthening tenants’ legal rights in cases claiming harassment and unlawful evictions.

“This settlement seems to be a significant admission of wrongdoing by Pinnacle,” said Benjamin Dulchin, executive director of the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, which represents housing groups. He added that the deal touched on tenants’ assertions that Pinnacle’s “misbehavior, harassing and overpaying rents was a key part of their business model.”

But Kenneth K. Fisher, a lawyer for Pinnacle, said the company had settled to avoid the cost of a potentially long trial. “The company has been proud of its record of providing housing for thousands of New York families,” he said, “and never felt the allegations had merit.”