- Court
- New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department
- Case
- Abdelrazek v. 12-15 Broadway Astoria, LLC
- Date
- May 27, 2026
- Slip Op. No.
- 2026 NY Slip Op 03283
Background
Plaintiffs brought a putative class action to recover damages for rent overcharges against the defendant landlord of their building. Plaintiffs moved for class certification and to approve a proposed notice of class action. The defendant cross-moved to dismiss the complaint as time-barred under CPLR 3211(a)(5). The Supreme Court, Queens County, denied both the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification and the defendant’s cross-motion to dismiss. Both sides appealed.
Holding
The Appellate Division reversed the denial of class certification and granted it to the extent of certifying a class consisting of all tenants at the defendant’s building who occupied rent-stabilized units during the relevant period. The Court found that the plaintiffs satisfied the requirements for class certification under CPLR 901, including numerosity, commonality, typicality, adequacy of representation, and superiority of the class action mechanism over individual litigation. The Court also affirmed the denial of the defendant’s cross-motion to dismiss, finding that the claims were not time-barred. The decision addressed the applicable statute of limitations for rent overcharge claims and the proper method for calculating overcharges under the rent stabilization framework.
Takeaways
Class certification in rent overcharge cases is appropriate when the common legal and factual issues predominate over individual questions, the proposed class is sufficiently numerous, and the class action mechanism is superior to individual litigation for resolving the claims. Rent overcharge claims against a single landlord for a single building are particularly well-suited for class treatment because the overcharge allegations typically share a common factual basis and require application of the same legal standards. The statute of limitations for rent overcharge claims does not bar the action where the overcharges are ongoing violations.
Why It Matters
This reversal is significant for tenant rights advocates and landlord-tenant practitioners because it establishes that class certification is available for building-wide rent overcharge claims. The certification of a class allows tenants to aggregate their claims and share the costs of litigation, making it economically viable to pursue overcharge claims that might be too small individually to justify the expense of litigation. Landlords of rent-stabilized buildings should be aware that a pattern of overcharges affecting multiple tenants may give rise to class action liability, and should review their rent histories for compliance with rent stabilization requirements.