Arel Funding I LP v. Feldman

2024 NY Slip Op 34270(U)

• Court: New York Supreme Court, New York County
• Decided: November 29, 2024
• Docket: Index No. 652731/2024
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

Arel Funding I LP v Feldman 2024 NY Slip Op 34270(U) November 29, 2024 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: Index No. 652731/2024 Judge: Joel M. Cohen 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. INDEX NO. 652731/2024 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 66 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/29/2024

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK: COMMERCIAL DIVISION PART 03M ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- X

AREL FUNDING I LP, INTERNATIONAL FUNDING NEW INDEX NO. 652731/2024 YORK LLC, 08/14/2024, Plaintiffs, MOTION DATE 08/14/2024

- V - MOTION SEQ. NO. 001 002 ZIEL FELDMAN, HELENE FELDMAN, HELENE FELDMAN, AS TRUSTEE OF THE FELDMAN FAMILY DECISION+ ORDER ON 2007 TRUST, JOHN DOE, AS TRUSTEE OF THE FELDMAN FAMILY 2007 TRUST, 187 DUNE ROAD MOTION LLC,WAM 76 11TH HOLDINGS LLC,WM 11AVE INVESTOR LLC,H F Z CAPITAL GROUP LLC,76 ELEVENTH AVENUE PROPERTY OWNER LLC,HFZ 76 ELEVENTH AVENUE PARTNERS LLC,HFZ 76 11TH AVENUE JUNIOR MEZZANINE BORROWER LLC,HFZ 76 11 PARTNERS A LLC,HFZ 76 11 MEMBER A LLC,HFZ 76 11 MANAGER LLC,HFZ 76 ELEVENTH HOLDCO LLC,HFZ 76 11TH AVENUE JV LLC,HFZ 76 11TH AVENUE HOLDINGS LLC,HFZ 76 11TH AVENUE LLC,H F Z REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATES LLC,76 ELEVENTH AVENUE MEZZANINE LLC,11TH AVENUE LENDER LLP, XI SPECIAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT LLC,HFZ SHORE CLUB LLC,HFZ SHORE MANAGER LLC,SC EQUITY HOLDER LLC,SC MEZZ HOLDER INVESTOR LLC,EDWARD T GAVIN, GAVIN/SOLMONESE LLC TRUSTEE OF THE HFZ CLAIMANT TRUST AND RESTRUCTURING SUPPORT AGREEMENT, THE WITKOFF GROUP LLC,ACCESS INDUSTRIES LLC,MC ASSET MANAGEMENT (CORPORATE) LLC,ZF SUNRISE ONE LLC,NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION, NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE

Defendants. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- X

HON. JOEL M. COHEN:

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 001) 30, 31, 32, 33, 38, 40,56,57,62 were read on this motion to DISMISS

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 002) 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 41,58,59, 63

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were read on this motion to DISMISS

Defendant 11th Avenue Lender LLP (" 11th Avenue Lender") and Defendants 76

Eleventh A venue Property Owner LLC, W AM 7 6 11th Holdings LLC, WM I IAve Investor

LLC, The Witkoff Group LLC, Access Industries LLC, MC Asset Management (Corporate)

LLC, SC Equity Holder LLC, SC Mezz Holder Investor LLC, and HFZ Shore Club LLC

(collectively, "Lender Defendants") move for an order dismissing all claims asserted against

them pursuant to CPLR 3013, 3014, 3016(b) and 3024. For the following reasons, the motions

are granted.

Pursuant to CPLR 3013, "'a complaint must allege facts that are sufficiently particular to

give the court and the defendants proper notice of the "transactions, occurrences, or series of

transactions [and] occurrences' intended to be proved" (Nationstar Mtge., LLC v Ocwen Loan

Servicing, LLC, 194 AD3d 490,492 [1st Dept 2021] [citation omitted]; CPLR 3013). Under

CPLR 3014, a "pleading shall consist of plain and concise statements in consecutively numbered

paragraphs ... separately stated and numbered" (Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v Merchants Mut. Ins.

Co., 84 AD2d 736, 736 [1st Dept 1981]). Furthermore, "[w]here a cause of action or defense is

based upon misrepresentation, fraud, mistake, wilful default, breach of trust or undue influence,

the circumstances constituting the wrong shall be stated in detail" (CPLR 30 l 6[b ]).

Here, Plaintiffs have filed a 200-page complaint, spanning 670 paragraphs, and directed

at 34 defendants (NYSCEF I ["Com pl."]). Plaintiffs' Complaint appears to allege that HFZ and

its principals facilitated a fraudulent transfer as part of an overarching scheme to deprive HFZ' s

creditors of payment on their respective investments in One High Line. However, the majority

of the Complaint's factual allegations are made "upon information and belief' and employ group

pleading, by virtue of which no concrete factual averments are made concerning the alleged

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wrongful conduct of any particular defendant. Furthermore, 13 causes of action are all

predicated on 500-plus allegations without actually explaining how the diverse allegations relate

to the specific claims. It is insufficient that Plaintiffs believe that the "Moving Defendants know

exactly what the core and factual bases are concerning the Complaint, based on their prior

lawsuits in which a number of the Moving Defendants have been named as Defendants"

(NYSCEF 58 at 6). Plaintiffs must actually plead allegations sufficient to place Defendants, as

well as the Court, on notice of all the claims and underlying transactions within the four comers

of the pleading (Foley v D'Agostino, 21 AD2d 60, 65 [1st Dept 1964]; Barsella v City of New

York, 82 AD2d 747, 748 [1st Dept 1981] ["The court should not be compelled to wade through a

mass of verbiage and superfluous matter in order to pick out an allegation here and there, which,

pieced together with other statements taken from another part of the complaint, will state a cause

of action"]).

Moreover, Plaintiffs Arel and International Funding, who appear to be investors in the

One High Line Project, purport to bring suit on behalf of "similarly situated" investors and

lenders who allegedly invested in and/or provided loans to HFZ-related entities (Compl. ,i 3).

While Plaintiffs argue that they have until 60 days after the Defendants' time to answer has

expired to move to certify the class (CPLR 902), Plaintiffs have not styled the Complaint as a

class action, nor alleged that they have standing to bring claims on behalf of absent parties, or

who the proposed class would include.

Therefore, the motions are granted and the complaint is dismissed without prejudice.

Plaintiffs may, within 45 days, seek leave to file an amended pleading that complies with CPLR

3013, 3014, and 3024, and, if Plaintiffs intend to maintain a class action, pleads the basic

requirements of a class action under CPLR 901(a).

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Accordingly, it is

ORDERED that the motions are GRANTED, and the Complaint is dismissed without

prejudice; it is further

ORDERED that Plaintiffs are granted 45 days from the date of this order to seek leave to

file an amended pleading that complies with CPLR 3013, 3014, and 3024, and, if Plaintiffs

intend to maintain a class action, pleads the basic requirements of a class action under CPLR

901(a). If no motion for leave to file an amended pleading is filed within 45 days, the foregoing

dismissal of the complaint shall be with prejudice.

This constitutes the Decision and Order of the Court.

11/29/2024 DATE JOEL M. COHEN, J.S.C. CHECK ONE: CASE DISPOSED NON-FINAL DISPOSITION

GRANTED □ DENIED GRANTED IN PART □ OTHER APPLICATION: SETTLE ORDER SUBMIT ORDER

CHECK IF APPROPRIATE: INCLUDES TRANSFER/REASSIGN FIDUCIARY APPOINTMENT □ REFERENCE

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