A more common avenue building owners use to move tenants out is to verify that the individual named on the lease is the same person living in the unit, called a non-primary tenant case. If a landlord can prove a tenant lives most of the time elsewhere, the landlord has no obligation to renew the lease.
Savoy Park tenant association president Valerie Orridge claims that dozens of tenants have received letters alleging the resident is not the lessee. James Drayton, for example, who has lived at Savoy Park for 36 of his 70 years and pays $506 per month for a one-bedroom, says he received notification this spring that Vantage Management would not renew his lease because he actually lived one block away. "I live with my wife... I am home every night and every day. When I got that letter, I had to think: Who would do that to me?" said Drayton, who eventually persuaded the company that he is the primary tenant.
Vantage Properties president and chief executive officer Neil Rubler said his company provides rent protection to tenants, as well as reserving the right to remove tenants that are living illegally in their buildings. In an e-mail from Rubler's representative, Rubenstein Communications, he said, "Our philosophy as new owners is to make long-term investments in the overall quality of our properties, from security and landscaping to structural and unit improvements, in order to create both a more desirable environment for current residents and demand among prospective residents. It’s our guiding principle and we apply it across all of our properties – those with substantial leverage and those that have no leverage at all." Rubenstein declined to have Rubler address the situation with any more detail or specificity.
But Dulchin said the situation cries out for tenant organizing, and his group is working to determine what can be done. He expects outreach to begin this fall.
The efforts to remove tenants have grabbed the attention of lawmakers. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is working on legislation that would allow tenants to bring legal action against landlords they accuse of a pattern of harassment.
State Sen. Bill Perkins, a Democrat representing Harlem, said he had been receiving calls from tenants and tenant leaders expressing anger about the tactics being used to move residents out.
"We are looking into legal ways to protect the affordability of the development as well as to protect those individuals who are being forced into court or out of their homes," Perkins said.
