Dear Gateway Tenants,
Notices of a class action settlement agreement were distributed to apartments on Tuesday. If you did not receive a notice, you can download one at: https://www.nfllp.com/documents/Cases/Gateway-Plaza-Long-Form-Notice_2.pdf or call the settlement Claims Administrator at 1-855-648-7655.
We have received questions from many tenants about the settlement notice. Here is a summary of key points:
1. GPTA is not directly involved in the lawsuit that is being settled, In re Gateway Plaza Residents Litigation (the “Gateway Lawsuit”). The information in this note comes from speaking with people who were involved in the Lawsuit and from reading the information on the public court docket. The most authoritative information about the settlement is what’s contained in the settlement notice and in the related court file. Please don’t consider anything in this note to be legal advice.
2. The Gateway Lawsuit and its settlement have nothing to do with the on-going rent stabilization negotiations. However, one of the settlement terms includes an agreement by Lefrak that rent increases from 2020 to 2022 will be no more than 5% annually for ALL Gateway tenants. This limit on rent increases will apply even if rent stabilization is not extended. If stabilization is extended, tenants covered by the extended agreement would have their renewals governed by the rent stabilization agreement.
3. Participating in the Gateway Lawsuit settlement will have no effect on your coverage under the rent stabilization agreement.
4. The settlement also provides for a rent rebate for any current tenant who has lived in Gateway since April 2008 (and for cash payments to tenants who lived in Gateway since April 2008, but who are no longer tenants). How much a particular tenant gets will be based on the gross amount of rent that tenant has paid since April 2008. The settlement notice estimates that the rebate for current tenants will be equal to 1.66% of the aggregate rent paid over that period – which could come to anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. The settlement notice doesn’t contain enough information to calculate any particular tenant’s actual rebate or refund with any accuracy.
5. In order to take advantage of the settlement, you will need to submit the claim form included with the settlement notice by April 16, 2020. You also have the option of excluding yourself from the settlement, if you do so by January 31, 2020. There will be a court hearing on March 2, 2020, at which time the court will either approve or reject the settlement, based on fairness considerations. Any class member who wishes to appear at the hearing and voice objections must submit a written objection to the court by January 31, 2020.