Randy Mastro, the attorney representing homeowners in the tax case, is also co-counsel in the rent freeze lawsuit. Instead, the department mailed roughly 17,000 homeowners notices saying their properties “may be subject” to the surcharge. The notices told owners to apply for an exemption and prove they live in their own homes. “Regardless of the policy itself, any new regulation affecting property owners needs to be implemented with clarity, accuracy and transparency.” “This is a beauty,” Stuart Saft, an attorney with Holland & Knight who has no connection to the lawsuit, told HousingWire TBD.