N.Y. / REGION

Brooklyn Tenants Receive a Judgment in a Heating Dispute

Ella-Mae Maurice-LaCroix, a tenant. Ruth Fremson/The New York Times 
On Jan. 25, the Metropolitan sectionpublished an article tracing the tortuous progress of an ordinary heating complaint in Brooklyn Housing Court. The case, involving two buildings in Crown Heights, was nothing complicated: There was a clear record of complaints to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and of inspectors issuing citations for inadequate heat or hot water. Lawyers on both sides said that compared with other cases in Housing Court, this one was moving quickly. Translation: At the time of the article, it had been going on for more than a year.
On Monday, 496 days after the initial filing, Judge Marina Cora Mundy issued a decision, holding the landlord, Seth Miller, in civil contempt for not providing essential services after agreeing to do so. She awarded each tenant in the suit $250 and ordered Mr. Miller to pay the city $922,000 for accumulated fines. As of Tuesday, the two buildings, at 930 and 940 Prospect Place, still had 122 open violations, according to the housing department.
A landlord, Seth Miller is seeking to evict Ms. Maurice-LaCroix.Anthony Lanzilote for The New York Times 
For Ella-Mae Maurice-LaCroix, who has lived at 940 Prospect Place since 1977, the judgment was vindication. “It took a long time, but it was worth it,” she said. “Yeah, it would have been nicer if we got more, but I’m glad that he was found in contempt — the fact that somebody paid attention to what he was doing, and that he was taunting the legal system.”
Mr. Miller declined to comment on the decision. His lawyer, Todd Rothenberg, did not respond to requests for comment.
Around the time the tenants sued, the housing department also went to court to force Mr. Miller to make repairs and to pay $1,018,075 in fines; the department moved to consolidate its suits with the tenants’. Judge Mundy denied that motion and scheduled a conference for May 20. A spokesman for the department, Eric Bederman, said he could not comment on next steps because the case was still open. In court papers, Julia Wilson, a lawyer for the housing department, wrote that it was not seeking to “double-dip,” or collect fines in both cases for the same violations.
Garrett Wright, a lawyer for the nonprofit Urban Justice Center who represented the tenants at no cost, said he was disappointed that the judge did not grant the tenants more relief, such as rent abatements. Tenants might now move to reargue parts of the case to seek more money or appeal the decision altogether, Mr. Wright said. They might also sue Mr. Miller individually in Civil Court or Small Claims Court for not making the apartments habitable, he added.
Mr. Wright said he planned to ask the court to order Mr. Miller to pay the center’s legal fees. He declined to estimate their cost.
For the tenants, though, questions remain. Will they get heat and hot water next winter? Will there be repercussions for bringing the lawsuit? Mr. Miller has sued to remove several of the tenants from the buildings, arguing that they do not have valid leases. Those cases churn on.
“He may straighten up a little, but I don’t expect him to be fully reformed,” said Ms. Maurice-LaCroix, one of the tenants he is seeking to evict. “He hates to lose.”
“I go to court on Friday with him,” she added. Of the judge’s decision finding Mr. Miller in contempt, she said, “I’m gonna bring it up in court.”
A version of this article appears in print on May 3, 2015, on page MB7 of the New York edition with the headline: After 16 Months, a Ruling, if Not Heat . Order Reprints|  Today's Paper|Subscribe