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A state Supreme Court judge has stopped a Bronx building owner from evicting a group of tenants for non-payment of rent. The tenants claim their landlord illegally raised rents.

The tenants used the same argument made by the tenants of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. In that case, which was decided late last year, the state's highest court ruled owners cannot raise rents to market rates when receiving a city tax credit called J-51. Attorney Garrett Wright from the Urban Justice Center represents the tenants and says the Bronx case is just the tip of the iceberg.

"More and more organizers are going out and meeting with tenants and talking to them about these issues about illegal rent raising, illegal deregulation of apartments in buildings where they received J-51 benefits," Wright says.

Justice John Barone cited the Stuy Town case in deciding to grant the tenants an injunction that stops their landlord from evicting them until a final decision is made. Owner Riverview Redevelopment says the full matter will be decided at trial, where they're confident they'll prevail.