cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/8727809

The new owner of more than 5,000 mostly rent-stabilized apartments says it has agreed to waive millions of dollars in unpaid rent that tenants owed in the years before a high-profile bankruptcy sale targeted by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

The company Summit Properties purchased the 93-building portfolio in March after its previous owner Pinnacle Group went bankrupt in a transaction that drew intervention from Mamdani and top city officials. Summit agreed to forgive tenants’ back rent during a recent meeting with leaders from the Union of Pinnacle Tenants, which represents residents across four boroughs where Summit bought Pinnacle buildings.

Many tenants began withholding rent because they had been dealing for years with unsafe conditions, while others fell behind because they could not afford their monthly payments, according to the tenant union. They may now get a blank slate.