Note 8 - Commitments and Contingencies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

Notes to Financial Statements

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

8. Commitments and Contingencies

Legal

On July 3, 2017, the Supreme Court of the State of New York (the “Court”) ruled in favor of 41 present or former tenants of apartment units at the Company’s buildings located at 50 Murray Street and 53 Park Place in Manhattan, New York (the Tribeca House property), who brought an action (the “Kuzmich” case) against the Company alleging that they were subject to applicable rent stabilization laws with the result that rental payments charged by the Company exceeded amounts permitted under these laws because the buildings were receiving certain tax abatements under Real Property Tax Law (“RPTL”) 421-g. The Court also awarded the plaintiffs- tenants their attorney’s fees and costs. After various court proceedings and discussions from 2018-2022, on March 4, 2022 the court issued a ruling, finalized on May 9, 2022, on the rent overcharges to which the plaintiffs are entitled. While the court ruled that the overcharges to which the plaintiffs are entitled total $1.2 million, the court agreed with the Company’s legal arguments that rendered the overcharge liability lower than it could have been, and therefore the Company did not appeal the ruling. On June 23, 2022, the court ruled that the plaintiffs are entitled to attorneys’ fees incurred through February 28, 2022, in the amount of $0.4 million.

On November 18, 2019, the same law firm which filed the Kuzmich case filed a second action involving a separate group of 26 tenants (captioned Crowe et al v 50 Murray Street Acquisition LLC, Supreme Court, New York County, Index No. 161227/19), which action advances essentially the same claims as in Kuzmich. The Company’s deadline to answer or otherwise respond to the complaint in Crowe had been extended to June 30, 2020; on such date, the Company filed its answer to the complaint. Pursuant to the court’s rules, on July 16, 2020, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint; the sole difference as compared to the initial complaint is that seven new plaintiffs-tenants were added to the caption; there were no substantive changes to the complaint’s allegations. On August 5, 2020, the Company filed its answer to the amended complaint. The case was placed on the court’s calendar and was next scheduled for a discovery conference on November 16, 2022. Counsel for the parties have been engaged in and are continuing settlement discussions. On November 16, 2022, the court held a compliance conference and ordered the plaintiffs to provide rent overcharge calculations in response to proposed calculations previously provided by the Company. On July 12, 2023, the court referred this matter to a Judicial Hearing Officer (“JHO”) to determine the outstanding issues. A hearing before the JHO was held in September 2023 and at this time all parties are engaged in settlement discussions.

On March 9, 2021, the same law firm which filed the Kuzmich and Crowe cases filed a third action involving another tenant (captioned Horn v 50 Murray Street Acquisition LLC, Supreme Court, New York County, Index No. 152415/21), which action advances the same claims as in Kuzmich and Crowe. The Company filed its answer to the complaint on May 21, 2021. The case was placed on the court’s calendar and is next scheduled for a preliminary conference in December 2023

As a result of the March 4 and May 9, 2022 decisions which established the probability and ability to reasonably compute amounts owed to tenants for all the cases, the Company recorded a charge for litigation settlement and other of $2.7 million in the consolidated statements of operations during the year ended December 31, 2021 comprising rent overcharges, interest and legal costs of plaintiff’s counsel. The Company paid $2.3 million to the plaintiffs related to the Kuzmich case during the year ended December 31, 2022 and $0.4 million related to the Crowe case during the nine month period ended September 30, 2023.

In addition to the above, the Company is subject to certain legal proceedings and claims arising in connection with its business. Management believes, based in part upon consultation with legal counsel, that the ultimate resolution of all such claims will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated results of operations, financial position or cash flows.

The Office of the Attorney General of the State of New York (“OAG”) commenced an investigation concerning the conduct of screening of tenant applicants in the building portfolio in which Clipper Equity and its principals have a management and/or ownership interest. Clipper Equity cooperated with the investigation and, in April 2022, entered into an Assurance of Discontinuance with the OAG to resolve the investigation on behalf of itself and its affiliates, the terms of which have no impact to the Company’s financial position or results of operations.

Commitments

June 29, 2023 the Company entered into the Article 11 Agreement Under the Article 11 agreement, the Company has entered into a Housing Repair and Maintenance Letter Agreement in which the Company has agreed to perform certain capital improvements to Flatbush Gardens over the next three years. The current estimate is that the costs of that work will be an amount up to $27 million. The Company expects those costs to be offset by the savings provided by property tax exemption and enhanced payments for tenants receiving government assistance (See note 1).

The Company is obligated to provide parking availability through August 2025 under a lease with a tenant at the 250 Livingston Street property; the current cost to the Company is approximately $205 per year.

Concentrations

The Company’s properties are located in the Boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City, which exposes the Company to greater economic risks than if it owned a more geographically dispersed portfolio.

The breakdown between commercial and residential revenue is as follows (unaudited):

	Commercial			Residential			Total
Three months ended September 30, 2023		27	%		73	%		100	%
Three months ended September 30, 2022		30	%		70	%		100	%
Nine months ended September 30, 2023		28	%		72	%		100	%
Nine months ended September 30, 2022		31	%		69	%		100	%