Local Law 11 Project Divides Condo Coop and condo boards and unit owners often split into competing factions where one group questions and challenges the decisions of the other. And, as a recent case shows, the charges, accusations and acrimony can lead to very combative litigation. Petitioners Mike Tong, Cathy Tong, Ann Chen, Te Chen, Nicole Crooks, Kamila Khavasova, Naturi Naughton and Gloria Lee  sought a declaratory judgment and a temporary/permanent restraining order to stop the  Board of Managers of the Bridgeview Tower Condominium from continuing with repairs and renovations relating to New York City Local Law 11. Petitioners, the… Read more

What Standard Applies in Article 78 Proceeding Challenging Decision of Board of Managers? Proceedings challenging board decisions under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Rule are governed by the test of whether the disputed action was “arbitrary and capricious”. But challenges to the action of members of the boards of residential condominiums are governed by the “business judgment rule”. So which standard governs when a condominium unit owner questions the conduct of the board of managers?  A recent case addresses that question. Notoya Green, as Trustee of a family trust, sought an Article 78 order: annulling and setting aside, as… Read more

Copyright by, and republished with permission of, Habitat Magazine. The co-op board at 160 E. 65th St. in Lenox Hill hired an architect to inspect the building’s facade – a routine first step toward complying with the city’s Facade Inspection and Safety Program, formerly known as Local Law 11, which requires owners of buildings taller than six stories to inspect their facades and make necessary repairs every five years. The architect reported back that remedial work was urgently needed – and the project would require access to two buildings behind the 178-unit, 32-story co-op tower. Specifically, the co-op sought a license to install,… Read more

Four things predictably happen in the Fall. Clocks are changed. Leaves lose color. Board controversies surface. And lawsuits result. Residential coop and condo disputes often now involve nasty on-line accusations and exchanges. Those snarky missives may—or may not—be the basis of a claim for defamation. As a recent case illustrates, the Court may have to decide whether or not the attacks are privileged and protected communications or defamatory and actionable On April 11, 2018, the Board of Managers of Brightwater Towers Condominium sued Nina Shlivko to recover damages for defamation. The Board is elected by unit owners to manage the… Read more

Real property “quiet title” actions often force the Court to apply contemporary facts to complicated legal distinctions raised by controverted century-old documents. A recent case arose out of the right of reverter in a 1896 deed of property for “church purposes” and a 2015 church decree relegating the property “to profane but not sordid use”—and turned on the meaning of phrases under the both the common law and canon law. In 1896, the president of the Paul Smith’s Hotel Company — Apollos “Paul” Smith — signed a deed by which the Hotel Company transferred property in Franklin County to the… Read more

Copyright by, and republished with permission of, Apartment Law Insider. Legal blogs are “agog” with speculation as to the viability, during the pandemic, of force majeure and impossibility/frustration-of-performance defenses to obligations under leases, mortgages, and other real property contracts. A recent case examines the viability of those defenses in another context—a change in law. On April 19, 2019, Malachite Servs., LLC agreed to purchase a building in Midtown Manhattan from 148-150 E. 28th St LLC for $6.668 million, with a down payment of $668,000 but no mortgage contingency clause. In June 2019, New York passed the Housing Stability and Tenant… Read more

A deliveryman drives his  bicycle against traffic on a one way street.  A pedestrian crosses in the middle of the block. The biker hits the jay- walker. Litigation ensues. Both violated the law.  Who is at fault? Antoinette Montague was struck by an employee  of T&W Restaurant, Inc. while he was making deliveries on a bicycle. The employee was riding the bike against the one-way direction of travel on East 55th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues– a violation of the Vehicle and Traffic Law. T&W contended that Montague jay-walked mid-block — a violation of the New York City Traffic… Read more

Parking space disputes between neighbors, when coupled, conflated  and complicated with claims of adverse possession, can ignite a legal conflagration. And, as a recent case illustrates, jurisprudential fireworks  intensify exponentially where the parties asserting and defending their right to park is a group of attorneys. Kenneth J. Finger and family members owed a parcel  on Grand Street in White Plains adjacent to a lot owned by Grand St. Realty, LLC.  In May 2016, the Fingers filed suit for a judgment declaring they had acquired, by adverse possession, title to a 24-inch strip of land on Grand’s property. The strip runs between… Read more

Copyright by, and republished with permission of, Habitat Magazine. Most of the litigation triggered by the coronavirus pandemic so far has involved business disputes – over the terms of commercial leases, for instance, or over claims for business-interruption coverage that were denied by insurance carriers. But a recent decision in state Supreme Court in Brooklyn could be the harbinger of a coming wave of COVID-inspired lawsuits in residential properties, including co-ops and condominiums. In a residential building at 100 S. 4th St. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the owner claimed a resident was a “long-term disrupter” who hosted numerous large gatherings in his… Read more

With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that some lawsuits never should have been filed. A recent case makes that point. Unidentified parents, on behalf of themselves and their child (let’s call them the “Walkers”), brought a premises liability action against New York State. They sought damages for injuries sustained when they were struck by a falling tree at Letchworth State Park — and alleged that the State was negligent in failing to inspect the park’s trees and protect visitors to the park from injury. The Court of Claims denied the Walkers’ motion for partial summary judgment on the… Read more