By: Benyamin Davidsons

Two landlords are taking their complaints to City Hall, saying commercial tenant protection bills were passed without proper deliberation and in violation of their constitutional right to collect rent owed. In May, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio signed bills making it illegal for commercial landlords to threaten tenants who are delinquent with payments but have been affected by the pandemic or who have received concessions.

As reported by Crain’s NY, on Friday, the building owners filed a lawsuit in state court saying the new bill robs landlords of certain lease guarantees until Sept. 30. The landlords, Marcia Melendez and Ling Yang, depend on rents from their buildings as their sole source of income. Like many landlords they contend that local authorities have been quick to pass legislation to help the tenant only at the landlords’ expense. They worry that the legislation will encourage even tenants who have the means to pay their rent will take advantage of the law, leaving the landlords without any clout to collect back rent. One office tenant hasn’t paid since before the pandemic hit, and cannot be ousted while the landlords themselves are in danger of missing their mortgage payments.

“This misguided effort fails to protect the very New Yorkers that the mayor and the council claim to be looking out for,” said Stephen Younger, the lead attorney for the landlords in the case, “as they inflict harm on property owners who are largely middle-class, immigrants and people of color.” The landlords argue that most property owners are not looking to oust businesses from their commercial space, and even if they did the real estate market is not yet at a place where they could fill the space with another tenant. They do, however, want to stay afloat, without having their rights as landlords taken away.

The property owners argue that the new law was penned in a way that makes it ambiguous to interpret what constitutes as threatening a tenant. Even asking for payment can possibly be construed as a threat, and may be prohibited. Melendez and Yang contend that this violates their First Amendment right. The measures “make it extremely difficult to collect rent without being accused of harassment,” Younger said. Some legal experts say that even under the law, requesting rent would not be misconstrued as a threat. “The landlord is asking for the money that’s in the lease. It’s a legal transaction,” said Adam Leitman Bailey, a real estate attorney.

A main part of the complaint in the lawsuit is in reference to the hasty way the bill was put together allowing for broad interpretation. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s bills, in contrast, were written with tenants required to prove substantial losses stemming from the pandemic in order to qualify for any concessions, says Younger. “These bills from the city are doing the opposite,” he said. “It has nothing to do with whether you have substantial injury from Covid-19. If you combine all those conditions together, who is left? All of these bills are written in overly broad ways so that a national chain can take advantage of them,” Younger said.

The landlords are also trying to overturn a law which absolves guarantors from responsibility on leases for commercial properties used as nonessential retail spaces that were forced to close under the governor’s executive order. They maintain that law too would increase the risk for landlords, and is stripping them of protection that was embedded in the lease contracts.

The lawsuit met quick reprisal, with politicians defending the bill. “Our small businesses, including those impacted by Covid-19, are the backbone of New York City’s economy and the embodiment of the American dream,” said Carlina Rivera, one of the bill’s sponsors. “These small businesses are struggling right now, and we must strengthen protections against commercial tenant harassment so that they will have the opportunity to thrive in the future.”

“These laws provide basic protections to New Yorkers and the beloved small businesses that make New York the greatest city in the world,” said a City Council spokesman. “This lawsuit is despicable, and any landlord looking to punish New Yorkers suffering during a global pandemic should be ashamed.”