Tenants Take Aim at 544 Union’s Alleged Rent‑Registration Scheme
The gap between the rent a tenant pays and the rent a landlord registers is no small matter—especially when that inflated figure becomes the baseline for every future increase.
The Dispute at 544 Union Avenue
In Small v. 544 Union DE LLC, Newman Ferrara LLP represents tenants challenging rent‑registration practices at 544 Union Avenue, a Williamsburg building receiving substantial tax benefits under New York’s 421‑a program. For newly constructed 421‑a apartments, the Rent Stabilization Code requires that the initial legal regulated rent be based on the rent actually charged and paid. That number then becomes the foundation for all future increases.
The tenants allege that 544 Union sidestepped this requirement through so‑called “construction concessions”—discounts that lowered what tenants paid but were not reflected in the initial rents registered with the state. In one example, Apartment 2P was advertised at $3,942 per month. With a one‑month free‑rent concession, the effective rent should have been lower, yet the landlord allegedly registered an initial rent of roughly $4,300. Future increases would then build from that inflated figure.
At issue is whether these “construction concessions” were legitimate temporary discounts or a vehicle for establishing artificially high regulated rents. Tenants contend the landlord used concessions long after construction had ended to manipulate initial registered rents and deprive tenants of their rent‑stabilized rights.
Class Certification Secured
Newman Ferrara LLP began its fight for the 544 Union tenants in 2021. After years of litigation, on June 25, 2026, Justice Ingrid Joseph of the Kings County Supreme Court granted class certification, allowing tenant Small to proceed on behalf of all current and former tenants. The Court also appointed Newman Ferrara LLP as class counsel.
What Comes Next
With the class certified, Newman Ferrara will continue pressing the case, challenging whether the building’s purported concessions were simply a mechanism for setting unlawfully inflated regulated rents—and ensuring tenants receive the protections the law requires.
# # #