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A new bill signed into law recently by Mayor Mike Bloomberg will protect lower and middle income tenants against harassment by their landlords.

The Tenant Protection Act provides legal recourse for tenants harassed by landlords seeking to push out renters who pay less than market value for their units.

The number of tenants who reported harassment increased over the past several years due in part to large companies buying up buildings and hoping to force out legal tenants in rent stabilized apartments in order to turn higher earnings, said Benjamin Dulchin, deputy director of the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development.

“There’s an expectation that they can push out a large number of tenants in violation of tenant protection laws,” Dulchin said. “This law takes the common sense approach, which gives tenants cause of action in Housing Court.”

Tenants who believe they were harassed can now bring their cases to the Department of Buildings’ Housing Court, which generally hears cases about landlord abuses against renters. If the judge determines harassment has taken place, the landlord will be ordered by the court to stop the behavior and will face a penalty of $1,000 to $5,000.

“Harassment is both about what the landlord’s doing and why the landlord is doing it,” Dulchin said. “It’s a fairly high burden for the tenant to prove.”

Tactics landlords have used to intimidate their tenants include bringing baseless court cases, claiming rent hasn’t been received, threatening immigration statuses and not providing services such as heat, hot water and repairs, said Hannah Weinstock, coordinator of organizing for community-based organization Queens Community House.

“A lot of the time, especially people who live in rent regulated building or are paying less than others in their buildings or they’ve been there a long time, receive all kinds of pressure, which we think is a pattern of harassment in order for them to leave.” Weinstock said.

If a landlord has three harassment charges dismissed over ten years, however, a tenant will have to receive approval from a judge to make another claim. Landlords may also receive reimbursement of their attorney’s fees if the claim is deemed frivolous.

The bill was signed into law March 13 and was co-sponsored by Councilmembers Daniel Garodnick (D-Manhattan) and Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Manhattan and Bronx).

“This bill is not just another tool in the fight to preserve affordable housing,” said Council Speaker Christine Quinn, “it will allow more people to feel safe in their homes.”