Mr. Estis said occupancy can be proved by testimonial evidence provided by the tenant and someone such as the letter writer, and through documentary evidence like tax returns, automobile registrations, driver's licenses or other documents that indicate the building in question is the tenant's residence.
The settlement had been in question after a group of tenants appealed to overturn it, saying it excluded certain types of claims worth millions of dollars more than what Pinnacle had agreed to be liable for.
(He pointed out that since the apartment in question is a co-op, the tenant is actually a subtenant of the letter writer, who is legally a tenant of the co-op).
The federal agency released its finding in January after examining marketing materials and the project's criteria for tenant selection, even though the developer assured it that the documents in question had been misinterpreted or were outdated.
Among the questions that surround those rents are whether they carry over to a subsequent renewal and how the answer to that question affects a tenant in a rental building that is being converted to a co-op or a condo.
Starting this summer, tenants will have the chance to order their files from the firms in question, and correct any inaccuracies.
The land in question had long been used as a common grazing area by local tenant farmers, called crofters, and a group of them protested that the construction of golf holes would violate their legal rights.
If the apartments in question are market-rate, the terms of the rental agreement are negotiated between landlord and tenants without the constraints of rent regulation.
The landlord in question was Mark Glass (whose legal name was Alvin Weiss), and he was accused of hiring a local drug dealer to kill one of his tenants.
The developer in question, Kevin P. Maloney, is now in the process of trying to live up to those promises, made to 83 longterm tenants at the Martha Washington.
