Greenbrook Buildings, a private‑equity‑backed real estate company that has been rapidly acquiring property across New York City, particularly in Manhattan and Brooklyn, is now facing serious allegations about its rent‑regulation practices.
In Cox v. 36 S Oxford St, LLC, past and current tenants of 36 South Oxford Street, 171 15th Street, 365 Fifth Avenue, and 70 Prospect Park West have filed a class action accusing Greenbrook of systematically deregulating rent‑stabilized apartments and inflating rents without satisfying the legal prerequisites. The tenants assert that Greenbrook cannot substantiate the Individual Apartment Improvements (IAIs) it claims justify deregulation. IAIs must be actual upgrades that increase an apartment’s value, not routine repairs, and must meet strict statutory formulas. According to the complaint, Greenbrook raised rents but has yet to produce evidence of the qualifying improvements required to support those increases.
By a Decision & Order dated June 11, 2026, Justice Lyle E. Frank of the New York County Supreme Court granted the tenants’ motion for class certification, allowing renters across the affected buildings to proceed collectively on the question of whether Greenbrook engaged in a coordinated effort to illegally inflate rents. The Court rejected ownership’s arguments about individualized rent histories, purported IAIs, and tenant‑specific damages.
Newman Ferrara partner Roger A. Sachar, counsel for the tenant‑plaintiffs, stated: “Class certification ensures that every tenant affected by this scheme will finally stand on equal footing, and Greenbrook will have to answer for what the evidence shows they did.”
The company will now have to substantiate its claims—or face the consequences of failing to do so.
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