Gramercy Spire Tenants' Ass'n v. Harris

490 F. Supp. 1219, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11303
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMay 12, 1980
DocketNo. 76 Civ. 4028 (WCC)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 490 F. Supp. 1219 (Gramercy Spire Tenants' Ass'n v. Harris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gramercy Spire Tenants' Ass'n v. Harris, 490 F. Supp. 1219, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11303 (S.D.N.Y. 1980).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

CONNER, District Judge:

In a previous opinion, reported at 446 F.Supp. 814, familiarity with which is assumed, the Court remanded this matter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) for a reexamination of defendant 16th Street Associates’ (“Associates”) application for preemption of local rent control-laws as they apply to Gramercy Spire Apartments (“Gramercy Spire”) and the tenants’ objections thereto. On remand, HUD reaffirmed its prior determina[1221]*1221tion that such preemption was necessary in order to ensure the economic viability of Gramercy Spire. Associates now moves for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56, F.R.Civ.P., on its counterclaim. For the reasons which follow, defendants’ motion for summary judgment is granted.

Only a brief review of the factual history of this action, set out in detail in the Court’s previous opinion, is needed to explicate the present decision. Gramercy Spire, located at 160 Third Avenue in New York City, is a privately owned and financed apartment building; however, the mortgage on Gramercy Spire, which is held by the Lincoln Savings Bank, is insured by the Secretary of HUD pursuant to Section 207 of the National Housing Act (“NHA”), as amended, 12 U.S.C. § 1713. In order to secure the guaranteed mortgage, Associates signed a regulatory agreement with the Federal Housing Administrator (“FHA”), the predecessor of the Secretary of HUD, which gave the agency considerable control over the management of Gramercy Spire, including the authority to approve all proposed rent increases to Gramercy Spire tenants. In addition to regulation by HUD, Gramercy Spire has also been subject to regulation by the Conciliation and Appeals Board (“CAB”) pursuant to New York City’s Rent Stabilization Law. However, on April 6, 1976, pursuant to 24 C.F.R. §§ 403.1-403.6 HUD preempted the application of the local New York City rent control laws to Gramercy Spire and authorized Associates to increase rents at Gramercy Spire at a rate greater than CAB would have approved. In this suit, instituted on September 9,1976, plaintiff Gramercy Spire Tenants’ Association (“Tenants’ Association”), comprised of Gramercy Spire tenants, brought suit against HUD and Associates challenging the preemption order. Associates asserted a counterclaim against plaintiff, CAB, and other defendants in which it sought relief preventing interference with the collection of HUD-approved rents and a declaration as to the validity of the preemption.

In its previous decision, the Court upheld the legality of the regulations authorizing HUD to preempt the local rent control laws but it also held that the tenants’ due process rights had been violated by the procedure utilized by HUD in making its April 6" determination since the tenants had not been afforded an opportunity to present to HUD their objections to Associates’ application for preemption. The Court thus held that HUD’s April 6 order was “null, void and of no further force and effect,” and remanded the matter to HUD for further proceedings on Associates’ application. Specifically, the Court ordered that meaningful participation by the tenants in the decision-making process would require: “(1) notice to the tenants at the time of the landlord’s filing an application for a rental increase pursuant to 24 C.F.R. § 403.6; (2) an opportunity for the tenants to inspect the materials sent to HUD in support of the application; (3) an opportunity for the tenants to submit opposing materials to HUD in written form; and (4) a written statement from HUD setting forth the reasons underlying its preemption decision.” HUD was ordered to “assume the responsibility of formulating specific procedures and timetables consistent with this [Court’s] opinion.” 446 F.Supp. at 827-28.1

Thereafter, on March 8, 1978, Associates (1) resubmitted to HUD and filed with the Clerk of this Court, the materials that it had previously submitted to HUD in connection with its 1975 application for preemption and (2) posted notices at Gramercy Spire informing the tenants that these ma[1222]*1222terials would be available for inspection in the building’s Superintendent’s office on Mondays through Saturdays for a month and that the tenants could submit comments and opposing materials to a specified person at the local HUD office. Written objections to Associates’ application were submitted to HUD by an individual tenant by the name of James N. Palik on April 6, 1978 and by counsel for plaintiff on April 11, 1978. Sometime before May 5, 1978, after reviewing the tenants’ objections, HUD determined that information originally submitted by Associates to HUD had been inadvertently omitted from the documents supplied to the tenants and HUD requested that Associates submit these additional materials to the tenants and give the tenants two more weeks to submit additional comments.2 On May 11,1978, Associates posted a notice at Gramercy Spire notifying the tenants of the availability of those additional materials and of the two-week extension. On June 9, 1978, HUD notified plaintiff’s attorney that it had commenced its review of Associates’ request for preemption. On July 19, 1978, HUD issued its decision reaffirming its 1976 preemption decision.3 In a detailed report, HUD rejected the tenants’ charges that the landlord and HUD had failed to follow HUD’s regulations with respect to the processing of Associates’ application, discussed infra, and rejected the tenants’ request for an independent audit of Gramercy Spire’s finances as “unwarranted.” The report concluded that:

“As a result of tenants’ comments, the HUD New York Area and Regional Offices reevaluated the owner’s application, together with the expense figures used to support the request for higher rent levels and preemption of local rents. The New York Area Office submitted a recommendation to the Office of Loan Management in HUD’s Central Office in Washington in favor of preemption of local rents. “The Office of Loan Management finds, after full consideration of tenants’ comments on the financial data submitted by the owner, and the recommendation made by the New York Area Office, that the level of residential income necessary to maintain and operate the project, including sufficient funds to meet the mortgage obligation, as determined by HUD in March, 1975 is appropriate. I further certify that the rentals permitted under local law at the time of the preemption determination in April, 1976 were insufficient to provide income necessary to protect the Department’s economic interest in this project. I hereby reaffirm my Administrative Determination of April 6, 1976 which preempts local rent control over Gramercy Spire.”

Associates has now returned to this Court to renew its motion for summary judgment on its counterclaim on the ground that the tenants have been afforded procedural due process and that there are no material issues of fact precluding the grant of summary judgment in their favor. Plaintiff opposes the motion on the ground that HUD has failed to grant the tenants the due process rights mandated by the Court’s pri- or decision and judgment and that HUD’s decision to preempt is erroneous.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
490 F. Supp. 1219, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11303, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gramercy-spire-tenants-assn-v-harris-nysd-1980.