In a landmark ruling, a Bronx landlord has been ordered to pay $10.14 million due to hazardous conditions in a Belmont apartment building, marking one of the largest housing court judgments in New York City’s history.
The order was issued by Judge Diane Lutwak, concluding a case initiated by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) against Karan Singh, the owner of the 15-story Fordham Towers located at 2410 Washington Avenue.
According to reports, Singh is accused of failing to provide essential services, such as heat and hot water, on numerous occasions between 2023 and 2024. Specifically, tenants went without heat for 10 days and without hot water for 17 days during this period.
The building, which houses 169 apartments, currently has an alarming total of 540 open violations, with 145 marked as “immediately hazardous.”
HPD has alleged that Singh and his associates have repeatedly neglected to address these violations and even provided false claims that some issues were resolved.
Benjamin Bisaro, an attorney with HPD, emphasized the severity of the situation, stating that the landlord’s long-term failure to correct dangerous conditions reflects a blatant disregard for the safety and health of tenants.
“Respondents have failed to correct unsafe conditions that pose a threat to the health and safety of their tenants for years on end,” Bisaro remarked.
He described the misconduct as intentional, aiming to evade legal accountability while intimidating tenants out of reporting issues to city authorities.
Additionally, the lawsuit alleged that tenants faced threats from management if they sought assistance from city agencies regarding hazardous living conditions.
Beyond the issues with heat and hot water, city records have documented multiple defects within the building, including malfunctioning self-closing doors, broken entry locks, and infestations of roaches and rodents.
Zoe Kheyman, a Legal Aid Society attorney representing several tenants at Fordham Towers, highlighted the gravity of the judge’s decision, noting it as one of the largest fines in Housing Court history.
“For years, our clients — tenants in buildings owned by Karan Singh and Rajmattie Persaud — have endured unlivable conditions, chronic disrepair, and neglect,” Kheyman said in a communication.
She pointed out the ongoing challenges faced by residents, where malfunctioning elevators continue to force vulnerable individuals, including the elderly and those with disabilities, to ascend 17 flights of stairs in dangerous heat.
These living conditions, she asserted, are inhumane and demand immediate resolution.
Singh, who also owns another apartment building in Morrisania, has drawn criticism for his management practices, ranking 17th on the public advocate’s Worst Landlord List for 2023.
This judgment is part of a larger trend by the city to combat neglectful landlord behavior. In March 2022, HPD increased enforcement efforts across 250 apartment buildings citywide, which collectively had amassed close to 40,000 open housing code violations.
The following month, the city took legal action against Moshe Piller, a landlord with over 1,900 violations across multiple properties in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan.
In April 2025, a notable step was taken when the city seized a Bronx building from an irresponsible landlord, a first in over seven years, marking significant progress in enforcing tenant rights and safety.
Overall, the recent court ruling against Karan Singh serves as a critical example of ongoing efforts to hold negligent landlords accountable and to improve living standards for tenants in New York City.
image source from：6sqft
