State returns 50,000 New York City apartments to rent regulation

State authorities say they have returned 50,000 improperly deregulated apartments in New York City to rent regulation while restoring more than $2.25 million in overcharged rent to tenants in the last four years.
Homes and Community Renewal’s Tenant Protection Unit in 2012 began tracking down rental apartments in the city that had disappeared from state data.
Notifying owners who failed to register rent-stabilized units since 2009 resulted in restoring tenant rights, officials said.