In the action of Katz 737 Corp. v. Cohen, where our office represented the defendants, Lester Cohen and Carol Cohen, the landlord sued the Cohens for fraud claiming that they intentionally under-reported their income to the Department of Housing and Community Renewal (“DHCR”) to circumvent the rules and maintain a rent stabilized unit at 737 Park Avenue, New York, New York.  Carol Cohen is a prominent New York City real estate broker who previously worked for the Corcoran Group.  The DHCR had already ruled that the Cohens were entitled to maintain their unit and conducted no investigation into the alleged under-reporting of income.

The Court ruled that the landlord sought to have the Court improperly intervene and go beyond the authority of the DHCR and rule on a matter which was exclusively within that agency’s jurisdiction.  The Court strongly indicated that the action was baseless and summarily dismissed the action.