A prominent New York City landlord is suing Public Advocate Letitia James, arguing he was unfairly included in last year’s “worst landlord” list.
An LLC controlled by Kamran Hakim — who owns more than 100 properties in New York City — filed a notice with the city comptroller’s office last month claiming he plans to sue James, Politico reported. Hakim was named the city’s 34th worst landlord on the 2015 list, which ranks landlords based on outstanding violations at their properties.
Hakim had 565 violations at seven buildings, according to James. However, he argues in the notice that several buildings are part of one development site. He also claims that tenants at two other buildings at the same site have refused buyouts and are blocking his attempts to bring the properties up to code. Violations at other properties have been cleared but not wiped from the record, according to Hakim.
He is seeking $15 million in damages, according to Politico.
The city first began putting out the worst landlord list in 2010, when Bill de Blasio was public advocate. Landlords have long complained about the list, since it doesn’t discount violations that occurred before they took control of the buildings.
Landlords Harry Silverstein and Allan Goldman topped this year’s list, which was released in October.
Silverstein has since died, and A&E Real Estate Holdings [TRDataCustom] is in talks to acquire a 14-building, 800-plus-unit portfolio still belonging to his family for $275 million, as The Real Deal reported this week.
Hakim owns at least 129 buildings, according to Crain’s. [Politico] — Miriam Hall