Kamran Hakim suing Public Advocate for $15 million over “worst landlord” list

New York City landlord Kamran Hakim is suing Public Advocate Letitia James for $15 million for being unfairly included on the Worst Landlord list,  according to a report in Politico New York.

Kamran Hakim who owns at list 129 buildings in New York City, according to Crain’s, was named the city’s 34th worst landlord on the 2015 list, which ranks landlords based on prominent violations at their properties.

Hakim had 565 violations at seven buildings, according to Letitia James. Hakim argues in his notice that several buildings are part of one development site on the Upper East Side and were vacant.

According to Hakim, tenants at two other buildings at the same site have refused buyouts by tenants and are blocking his attempts to bring the properties up to code. Violations at other properties have been cleared but not wiped from the record, he says.

Crain’s New York claim that hey found several errors along the 2015 Watchlist including a landlord who was put on the list twice despite purchasing a troubled building through a government program designed to improve living conditions.

The New York Times report that Hakim has spent a decade trying to clear tenants out of the buildings in Upper East Side that appeared on the Worst Landlord Watchlist.

The New York Times adds that a woman tenant complained to the city. After she refused a $700, 000 buyout she and her neighbors have found vermin and intermittent heat and hot water.

The public advocate’s office said through a spokeswoman it was reviewing Hakim’s notice.

At the top 2016 Worst Landlords in New York City, which was released in October, you can find Harry Silverstein and Allan Goldman. Silverstein has since died.