Major Cases

Appellate Cases

• December 2021
  

  Trafalgar v. Malone, (Appellate Term, First Department) (No Certificate of Occupancy means “Use and Occupancy” deposited with the Court and or paid to landlord, without prejudice, must be returned to the tenant)

  HMGJ Partner Jesse Gribben recently won big for tenants at the Appellate Term, First Department. The tenant in the underlying housing court non-payment case, Trafalgar v. Malone, argued that the landlord could not collect rent because the building did not have a valid certificate of occupancy. Pending a final determination of the housing court case, the tenant deposited “use and occupancy,” (what rent is called after a lease ends) with the court and paid several months of use and occupancy directly to the landlord. The money paid and deposited was “without prejudice,” to the tenant’s defenses. The court held all of these monies must be returned to the tenant and the decision was upheld on appeal.
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• August 2021
  

  Casey v. Whitehouse Estates (Appellate Division, First Department)

  Affirms Supreme Court holding that the rents for 78 apartments unlawfully deregulated while landlord was in receipt of J-51 tax benefits have to be calculated based on the default formula and frozen as of 2007. Under the default formula, the rents are recalculated because of landlord fraud and/or because there are no reliable rental history records. The recalculation is usually based on the lowest stabilized rent for a comparable apartment in the building. In most cases, the rents are to be lowered from well over $2,000 per month to well under $1,500 per month. The tenants who have occupied those apartments over the past 14 years are entitled to a refund of the amounts overpaid, with interest, which will result in tens of millions of dollars of compensation.
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• June 2021
  

  FAC Preservation HDFC v. Delio Moreno (Appellate Term, Second Department)

  HDFC cannot eliminate preferential rent as long as tenant is in occupancy based on clear language of the initial lease rider which provided, after rehabilitation of the building, that if tenant could not obtain Section 8, all rent increases would be based on the lower preferential rent, not the legal rent.
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• October 2020
  

  Bergen Realty & Mgmt. LLC v. DHCR and Christie-Irvine

  Upholds DHCR finding of fraudulent scheme to deregulate based on lack of proof of claimed renovations, setting of rent based upon default formula and awarding of overcharge and treble damages.
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• April 2020
  

  Daniel Collazo v. Netherland Property Asset, 35 N.Y.3d 987 (upholding tenants’ choice to sue for rent overcharges in NY State Supreme Court rather than filing a complaint with the DHCR)

  Chini v. Chini, 189 A.D.3d 986 (2d Dept. 2020) (finding issues of fact requiring a trial as to claim by son of deceased owner, who had exclusive possession of an apartment and paid rent, that he was a rent stabilized tenant)

  Garendean Realty Owner v. Lang, 175 A.D.3d 653 (2d Dept. 2019) (upholding dismissal of fraud claim against tenant where no sufficient allegations were made)
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• June 2019
  

  Kuzmich V. 50 Murray Street Acquisition LLC

  (421-g apartments not subject to deregulation) (Court of Appeals June 2019)
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• December 2018
  

  Nolte vs. Bridgestone Associates

  court upholds trial court decision that the landlord fraudulently deregulated the apartment, freezes rent, grants trebles damages, uses default formula to calculate rent and awards legal fees
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• October 2018
  

  601 West 136th Street HDFC v. Yvette Tsiropoulos

  HDFC unreasonably rejected remaining family member application of daughter of deceased tenant on the basis of not being financially responsible. Daughter was able to pay the maintenance and lack of tax returns and period of withholding maintenance, under the circumstances, did not make her financially irresponsible.
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