200-218 Soundview Realty Corp. v. Sherlock

170 Misc. 2d 308, 647 N.Y.S.2d 913, 1996 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 349
CourtCivil Court of the City of New York
DecidedJuly 31, 1996
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 170 Misc. 2d 308 (200-218 Soundview Realty Corp. v. Sherlock) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Civil Court of the City of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
200-218 Soundview Realty Corp. v. Sherlock, 170 Misc. 2d 308, 647 N.Y.S.2d 913, 1996 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 349 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1996).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

George M. Heymann, J.

Petitioner commenced this holdover proceeding alleging that the respondent does not, and never did, occupy the premises located at 29 Glenz Estates, Bronx, New York, as his primary residence.

The respondent has moved this court for an order dismissing the instant matter on the grounds that the petitioner does not own the house at 29 Glenz Estates, only the land upon which it is situated, and that the petition is defective in that it fails to allege that said house is a multiple dwelling.

The petitioner has cross-moved for summary judgment.

Factual Background

The subject premises in this proceeding is one of a unique class of housing in the City of New York wherein the dwelling unit is owned by one party and the land upon which said structure is constructed is owned by someone else.

The petitioner is the owner of land situated in Bronx County known as Glenz Estates. According to counsel for the respon[310]*310dent, 29 Glenz Estates is one of "8 individual homes [upon such land] which are occupied by families living independently of each other. ” (Affirmation in support of respondent’s motion [emphasis added].)

On May 1, 1992 in an order determining facts or establishing legal regulated rent, the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) made a determination which states in relevant part that "the total land area known as 9 Glenz Estate is subject to the Rent and Eviction Regulations and/or the Rent Stabilization Code, depending upon each individual home owner’s initial date of occupancy, those that took occupancy of their homes prior to June 30, 1971 are hereby considered Rent Controlled and those that took initial occupancy of their homes after June 30, 1971 are hereby considered Rent Stabilized”. DHCR further determined that the then tenant residing at 29 Glenz Estates was considered rent stabilized due to her initial occupancy of the premises after June 30, 1971 and established the legal regulated rent, to be paid to the owner of the land, at $50 per month, effective April 1, 1987.

As a basis for seeking dismissal of this proceeding, the respondent relies on a prior decision, involving the same parties herein, in which the court granted respondent’s motion to dismiss due to the petitioner’s failure to properly describe the rent regulatory status of the premises (i.e., rent stabilized), in the petition. (See, Civ Ct, Bronx County, Sept. 1, 1995, Fiorella, J., L&T No. 36005/95.) That decision, however, is not dispositive of the case at bar.

Issue

The issue here, which appears to be one of first impression, is whether the individually owned one- and two-family houses that comprise Glenz Estates, and are protected by rent control or rent stabilization, are deemed to be multiple dwellings and must be registered as such.

Conclusions of Law I — Motion to Dismiss

It is the respondent’s contention that the premises are, in fact, a multiple dwelling and that the statement in paragraph No. 11 of the petition that "[t]he premises are not a multiple dwelling” renders the entire proceeding fatally defective.

Upon review of the applicable statutes and cases cited by respondent’s counsel, this court is of the opinion that the premises in question is not a multiple dwelling.

[311]*311Multiple Dwelling Law § 4 (7) defines a "multiple dwelling” as "a dwelling which is either rented, leased, let or hired out, to be occupied, or is occupied as the residence or home of three or more families living independently of each other * * * For the purposes of this chapter 'multiple dwellings’ are divided into two classes: 'class A’ and 'class B.’ ”

"A 'class A’ multiple dwelling is a multiple dwelling which is occupied, as a rule, for permanent residence purposes. This class shall include * * * maisonette apartments, apartment houses * * * garden-type maisonette dwelling projects, and all other multiple dwellings except class B multiple dwellings.” (Multiple Dwelling Law § 4 [8] [a].)

In addition to a building or structure occupied by one or more individuals as a residence, home, dwelling unit or apartment, the Rent Stabilization Code (9 NYCRR parts 2520-2530 [RSC]) incorporates in its definition of "housing accommodation” "any plot or parcel of land which had been regulated pursuant to the City * * * Rent Law prior to July 1, 1971, and which became subject to the RSL after June 30, 1974.” (9 NYCRR 2520.6 [a].) The rationale for the inclusion of the "land” in the statute was set forth in Matter of Federated Homes v Berman (56 Misc 2d 160, 167, affd 31 AD2d 624, affd 24 NY2d 978) as follows: "If rents of the underlying land were decontrolled, the landlord would be free to exact 'unjust, unreasonable and oppressive rents’ which might force the tenant to sacrifice a substantial portion of his investment in order to effectuate a sale. This loss might not be averted by the tenant’s ability to remove the bungalow. The City Council might reasonably have concluded that keeping this type of one- or two-family houses subject to control was necessary in order to 'forestall profiteering, speculation and other disruptive practices tending to produce threats to the public health’.” (See also, Matter of Silver Beach Realty Corp. v Berman, 31 AD2d 625, affd 24 NY2d 978.)

Although the appellate courts have upheld this anomalous situation (created by the State Legislature and adopted by the City Council under Local Laws, 1962, No. 20 of City of New York) of allowing rent control or rent stabilization for certain parcels of land upon which a house is built but not for the house itself, the court has been unable to locate any decisions or DHCR determinations with respect to whether these types of dwellings constitute a multiple dwelling.

As stated in the affirmation of respondent’s counsel, the eight dwellings that comprise Glenz Estates are individually owned; each occupied by families living independently of each other. [312]*312The respondent has not provided any evidence to demonstrate how his.particular dwelling fits within the definition of multiple dwelling as cited above, i.e., that three or more families living independently of one another reside at 29 Glenz Estates; or that the eight houses share common utilities such as gas, electricity, water, etc., creating a garden-type maisonette dwelling or horizontal multiple dwelling. (See, Multiple Dwelling Law § 4 [8] [b]; ESC [9 NYCRR] § 2520.11 [d].)

Counsel’s bold assertion that this premises is a multiple dwelling because rent stabilization protection only applies to residential buildings with six or more units and the DHCR has determined that 29 Glenz Estates is rent stabilized, and that the eight units on Glenz Estates create a horizontal multiple dwelling, is without any basis in fact. As previously stated, there has been no evidence proving any commonality between any of these individual units. Moreover, as opined in the dissenting opinion in Silver Beach Realty Corp. v Berman (31 AD2d 625, supra): "It should be pointed out that the property involved consists of a tract of land subdivided into parcels which are rented to various tenants. Each tenant has the privilege of erecting a one-family house on the plot, which house remains his property.

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Related

200-218 Soundview Realty Corp. v. Sherlock
171 Misc. 2d 98 (Civil Court of the City of New York, 1996)

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Bluebook (online)
170 Misc. 2d 308, 647 N.Y.S.2d 913, 1996 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 349, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/200-218-soundview-realty-corp-v-sherlock-nycivct-1996.