Bresciani v. Corsino

32 Misc. 3d 463
CourtCivil Court of the City of New York
DecidedMarch 30, 2011
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 32 Misc. 3d 463 (Bresciani v. Corsino) 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
Bresciani v. Corsino, 32 Misc. 3d 463 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

George M. Heymann, J.

Is there life after “death” for a predicate Golub notice?1

Factual Background

The petitioner owner commenced these holdover proceedings seeking to recover the premises for her own use and occupancy as her primary residence.

The respondents herein are tenants of rent-stabilized apartments located at 309 Stockholm Street, Brooklyn, New York 11237, apartments 3L and 3R, respectively. Their lease terms commenced on December 1, 2008 and ended on November 30, 2010.

A “Notice of Intention to Terminate Tenancy and Not to Renew Lease and Intention to Commence an Action or Proceeding” (Golub notice), dated August 3, 2010, was mailed to the respondents by regular and certified mail on August 4, 2010.

The instant owner-use holdover proceedings were commenced by the filing of. the petition on December 15, 2010. Service was also made on New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Section 8 Program.

Prior to the commencement of these proceedings, the petitioner utilized the same notices of nonrenewal and termination of tenancy for identical proceedings (L & T Nos. 104467/10, 104468/0, respectively) which were initiated on December 3, 2010 and scheduled to appear on the calendar on December 14, 2010.

On December 14, 2010, the respondents moved to dismiss the initial proceedings because the respondents are Section 8 voucher recipients and the administrative agency, NYCHA, was not properly served.

As a result, the parties entered in a two-attorney stipulation as to each matter agreeing that “[t]he above proceeding is [465]*465discontinued without prejudice, because of the respondent’s motion.”

That same day, the petitioner prepared a new petition and notice of petition for each matter and filed them with the court the next day, December 15, 2010, which were then served upon the respondents on December 17, 2010.

On January 14, 2011, the respondents moved to dismiss these proceedings on the grounds that the petitioner did not serve new notices of nonrenewal (Golub notices) and that the petitioner failed to file completed affidavits of service of the petition and notice of petition with the court clerk.

On March 1, 2011, these two matters, which were pending in different parts, were consolidated in this court’s part and adjourned to March 4, 2011 for argument.

Discussion and Conclusions of Law

In support of their motions to dismiss, the respondents rely on the holdings in Matter of Nicolaides v State of New York Div. of Hous. & Community Renewal (231 AD2d 723 [2d Dept 1996]) and Kaycee W. 113th St. Corp. v Diakoff (160 AD2d 573 [1st Dept 1990]).

In Nicolaides (supra), the court held that a notice of nonrenewal of a rent-stabilized lease does not survive the dismissal of the first action (in the Civil Court) and cannot serve as the predicate notice for a second proceeding in a new forum (Supreme Court), citing Kaycee.

In Kaycee (supra), the Civil Court proceeding was “eventually dismissed” and the landlord commenced a second proceeding using the same 30-day notice in Supreme Court. The second proceeding was dismissed because the same predicate notice, which was “deficient” and “ineffective to serve as a predicate for an eviction proceeding” was utilized (id. at 574). In dismissing the action the court did so “without prejudice to the landlord’s commencement of a new proceeding [after] a new and proper 30 day notice.” (Id. [emphasis added].)

The respondents also cited Fileccia v Neuwirth (NYLJ, June 16, 2010, at 25, col 1), where the landlord sought to maintain a second identical proceeding based upon the same predicate notice while the first proceeding was still pending. There, the first proceeding was adjourned repeatedly, requiring numerous appearances by the respondent and counsel. The court held that

[466]*466“[t]he crux of this line of cases is that when the earlier proceeding is terminated and ended, whether as a result of dismissal, discontinuance or abandonment, the entire matter is terminated, including the predicate notice for that proceeding, and given the vitiation of the predicate notice it cannot be revived and is therefore ineffective to serve as a predicate . for a subsequent eviction proceeding.”

However, the court distinguished its case by pointing out the initial proceeding was never dismissed, discontinued, sought to be discontinued, or abandoned and was still pending 14 months after it was commenced, and the second proceeding, using the same predicate notice, was commenced nine months after the petitioner was notified of the challenge to service in the first proceeding.

The Fileccia court discussed the matter of Chen v Brito (NYLJ, Apr. 9, 2003, at 24, col 6), as does the respondent herein. In Chen, an owner-use holdover proceeding, the respondent moved to dismiss the petition based on defects in service of the petition, and there was motion practice and adjournments from November 12, 2002 through January 14, 2003. The petitioner commenced a second owner-use holdover proceeding seeking the identical relief on December 11, 2002 “during the active litigation and motion practice in the prior proceeding.” Both matters appeared on the calendar on January 14, 2003 and the

“petitioner discontinued the prior ‘owner’s-use’ holdover by stipulation, which stipulation reserved respondent’s defense that petitioner was barred from commencing a new ‘owner’s-use’ holdover proceeding based upon the same predicate notice of lease nonrenewal as used in the prior holdover.”

In that case, under those circumstances, the court held that “a party cannot manipulate the proceedings to insulate itself from the prevailing law.”

In furtherance of their position, the respondents cite Malafis v Evans (NYLJ, July 5, 2000, at 34, col 2), which supports the position that a previously vitiated Golub notice cannot be used as a predicate notice in a subsequent proceeding. In reaching its conclusion, the court relied on Nicolaides (supra), which had cited Cacaj v Levine (NYLJ, July 3, 1991, at 25, col 4), where the proceeding used a prior Golub notice subsequent to the dismissal of the initial owner-use holdover proceeding, after a traverse hearing for lack of jurisdiction. The court also relied on [467]*467Mau v Stapleton (136 Misc 2d 793 [1987]), which dismissed a second owner-use holdover proceeding involving a Section 8 tenant where the petitioner failed to obtain a new authorization from NYCHA when the first proceeding was dismissed on technical grounds. The basis for dismissal was “that circumstances might have changed and that the grounds on which the authorization had been secured eleven months before might have become stale.” In Malafis (supra), there was a lapse of over two years since the notice of nonrenewal had been served, and the court was concerned that the circumstances might have changed. The court further noted that the “proceeding [was] based on the alleged housing needs for petitioners’ son, yet the moving papers [were] completely silent on the issue.”

The respondents further rely on Wilczewski v Mercado (NYLJ, May 15, 1996, at 28, col 2) and

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Culhane v. Patterson
54 Misc. 3d 10 (Appellate Terms of the Supreme Court of New York, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
32 Misc. 3d 463, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bresciani-v-corsino-nycivct-2011.