AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
A New York state court dealt a massive blow to the owners of Stuyvesant Town this morning, ruling that the real estate developers were guilty of illegally raising the rent.
Tishman Speyer, which paid $5.4 billion for Peter Cooper Village and Stuy Town just before the real estate market peaked, was found guilty of illegally deregulating thousands of rent-stabilized apartments, according to several published reports.
The ruling could cost Tishman Speyer, which was recently rumored to be close to filing for bankruptcy, as much $200 million.
The court sided with tenants, who argued that the landlord could not raise the rent until 2017 because of a tax abatement program in place, Reuters reports.