100 Metro. Ave. Realty Corp. v. Light RE LLC

2023 NY Slip Op 34569
New York Supreme Court, Kings County·Decided December 20, 2023·Unpublished

Opinion

100 Metro. Ave. Realty Corp. v Light RE LLC 2023 NY Slip Op 34569(U)

December 20, 2023

Supreme Court, Kings County Docket Number: Index No. 505282/2020 Judge: Debra Silber

Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip Op 30001(U), are republished from various New York State and local government sources, including the New York State Unified Court System's eCourts Service. This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official publication.

FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 01/02/2024 10:46 AM INDEX NO. 505282/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 159 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 01/02/2024

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF KINGS : PART 9

100 METROPOLITAN AVENUE REALTY CORP., DECISION / ORDER

Plaintiff,

Index No. 505282/2020

-against- Motion Seq. No. 6 & 7

LIGHT RE LLC, and STEFAN ROHNER,

Defendants.

Recitation, as required by CPLR 2219(a), of the papers considered in the review of plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment and plaintiffs’ cross motion for a stay of this action.

Papers NYSCEF Doc.

Notices of Motion, Affirmations and Exhibits................................ 122-139 Notice of Cross Motion, Affirmations and Exhibits........................ 146-152 Reply …………….......................................................................... 156-157

Upon the foregoing cited papers, the Decision/Order on these motions is as follows: Background

In 2003, plaintiff entered into a lease [Doc 13] with an entity named York RE Inc., for five years, on a Real Estate Board of NY - Standard Form of Loft Lease, for the top floor of the premises, a warehouse located at 100 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. The premises are more specifically described as 100-108, 110, 112 Metropolitan Avenue, and 77-81 and 83 North First Street. Plaintiff’s notice of termination states that the zoning district for this property is M-1. In 2008, York RE Inc. assigned all of its rights under the lease to defendant Light RE LLC, by written assignment [Doc 12] which plaintiff consented to in May of 2008. Defendant Rohner is not a party to the assignment, but he signed it as

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a “member” of Light RE LLC. There is no lease guaranty. The lease was to expire on September 30, 2008. Plaintiff asserts in the notice of termination [Doc 14] that the lease was renewed for five more years, to expire on September 30, 2013. A copy of the renewal document is not provided.

On February 4, 2020, plaintiff served defendants with a ninety-day notice of termination of their month-to-month tenancy [Doc 14]. A copy of the affidavit of service of this predicate notice does not seem to be in the file. It is noted by the court that an ejectment action required a 90-day notice at the time this notice was prepared (591 Realty LLC v Curanaj, 2023 NY Slip Op 34261[U] [Sup Ct, NY County 2023]). Further, acceptance of rent vitiates the termination notice, but there is no indication whether plaintiff accepted rent from defendant after the notice of termination was served (id.). Plaintiff’s attorney states [Doc 67] that “Both prior to, and following the date of the Consent Order, the Defendants have failed to pay to Landlord any use and occupancy for their continued possession of the Unit.” Counsel’s wording is ambiguous. That order is dated June 22, 2020.

“It is well-settled law in the Second Department that ‘when there is a valid landlord-

tenant relationship, a predicate notice must be served on the defendant before commencement of an ejectment action.’” (JCF Assoc. LLC v Take Two Outdoor Media LLC, 2023 NY Slip Op 30802[U], [Sup Ct, Kings County 2023]. In the absence of the giving of such notice, an ejectment action will not lie (Gerolemou v. Soliz, 184 Misc. 2d 579, 710 N.Y.S.2d 513 [App Term, 2d Dept 2000]). No notice is required only if the termination is at the end of the lease term. No statute specifically abrogates the common-law rule that notice is unnecessary to maintain an ejectment action against a tenant who wrongfully holds over

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after expiration of a fixed and definite term (Alleyne v Townsley, 110 AD2d 674 at 675 [2d Dept 1985]). But here, the termination did not occur until almost seven years after the lease expired, and the plaintiff accepted rent after the lease expired, and thus a notice was required.

Until recently, under the common law, the proper notice to terminate a month-to-month tenancy prior to commencing an ejectment action was six months (Kosa v Legg, 12 Misc 3d 369, 383 [Sup Ct Kings County 2006] cf. Kaycee Props., LLC v Colon, 2023 NY Slip Op 30951[U] [Sup Ct, Monroe County 2023]).

The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019, Laws 2019, Ch 39, §38 (Part Q) amended Real Property Law § 226-c to state that "[w]henever a landlord . . . does not intend to renew the tenancy, the landlord shall provide written notice as required in subdivision two of this section". Section 2 requires that whenever a tenant "has occupied the unit for more than two years or has a lease term of at least two years, the landlord shall provide at least ninety days' notice." (RPL § 226-c.) Further, “[t]he express terms of the statute do not limit its application to actions brought as summary proceedings pursuant to Article 7 of the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law” (Kaycee Props., LLC v Colon, 2023 NY Slip Op 30951[U], [Sup Ct, Monroe County 2023]). Thus, after June 14, 2019, the predicate notice for a month-to-month tenant is 90 days (see 26 Bowery LLC v Mimin Yong (In re 26 Bowery LLC), 2023 Bankr LEXIS 2963 [Bankr SDNY Dec. 18, 2023, Nos. 22-10412 (MG), 22-10413 (MG), 23-01166 (MG)]). This court offers no opinion on the issue of the predicate notice herein, as it is not an issue raised in the motions. This discussion, however, has been had on the record with the attorneys for both sides in the past, and neither attorney took any action in response.

A complaint was filed, and an index number was purchased, on March 3, 2020.

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Plaintiff did not wait 90 days after the notice of termination to commence the action. At the same time, plaintiff filed a proposed Order to Show Cause. It was signed by the Justice in the Ex Parte Part on March 5, 2020 [Doc 16].

The order to show cause asks “for an Order: (a) declaring that Defendants' operation of an SRO hotel and/or bed and breakfast out of the Premises in the Building is unlawful and incurable and in violation of the substantial obligation of his tenancy and/or the law; (b) granting a preliminary injunction enjoining and restraining Defendants from using the Premises in violation of the lease for the Premises and the law, including, but not limited to: (i) operating an SRO hotel and/or bed and breakfast out of the Premises in violation of the New York City Hotel Occupancy Tax Law and New York City Unincorporated Business Tax Law; (ii) using the Premises, in whole or in part, by subleasing the Premises, in whole or in part, to transient occupants; (iii) providing access to, from, and within the Building to transient occupants; and (iv) allowing persons other than Defendants to occupy the Premises in violation of RPL Secs. 226-b and 235-f; (c) barring Defendants, their agents, servants, and all persons chiming under them from operating an SRO and/or bed and breakfast, including renting portions of the Premises, except as per RPL Sec. 226-b and in accordance with RPL Sec. 235-f.”

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100 Metro. Ave. Realty Corp. v. Light RE LLC, 2023 NY Slip Op 34569 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2023).

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Related

Alleyne v. Townsley
110 A.D.2d 674 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1985)
Gerolemou v. Soliz
184 Misc. 2d 579 (Appellate Terms of the Supreme Court of New York, 2000)
Kosa v. Legg
12 Misc. 3d 369 (New York Supreme Court, 2006)