London Terrace Towers, Inc. v. Davis

6 Misc. 3d 600
CourtCivil Court of the City of New York
DecidedDecember 6, 2004
StatusPublished

This text of 6 Misc. 3d 600 (London Terrace Towers, Inc. v. Davis) 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
London Terrace Towers, Inc. v. Davis, 6 Misc. 3d 600 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Gerald Lebovits, J.

I. Introduction

Petitioner cooperative corporation is the owner and landlord of a building located at 465 West 23rd Street, New York, New York. The corporation has a board of directors that oversees the building’s management. On July 9, 1993, respondent, Michael Davis, leased apartment 2F and bought the shares of stock appurtenant to the apartment.

Petitioner alleges that respondent engaged in objectionable conduct throughout his tenancy. Petitioner sent numerous warnings to respondent asking him to conform his conduct to the house rules. On December 6, 2001, the board of directors and respondent entered into a written agreement in which he promised to improve his behavior. Petitioner claims that respondent’s behavior worsened. On September 3, 2003, the board of directors held a special meeting to discuss whether respondent’s tenancy should be terminated for objectionable conduct under paragraph 31 (f) of the proprietary lease. Paragraph 31 (f) provides that:

“If at any time the Lessor shall determine, upon the affirmative vote of two-thirds of its then Directors, at a meeting duly called for that purpose, that because of objectionable conduct on the part of the Lessee, or of a person dwelling or visiting in the Apartment, repeated after written notice from Lessor, the tenancy of the Lessee is undesirable.”

Respondent attended the September 2003 special meeting. After the board members heard respondent defend himself, they unanimously voted to terminate his proprietary lease.

Petitioner now seeks possession of apartment 2F as well as use and occupancy and attorney’s fees. Petitioner moves for summary judgment, alleging that no issue of fact exists about whether the board voted properly to terminate respondent’s tenancy. Respondent, on the other hand, argues that tlie board’s vote is entitled to no deference under the business judgment rule. He argues, principally, that only a court, after a trial, can decide whether he engaged in objectionable conduct. He does not suggest, however, that the board vote was outside the scope of its authority, that the board’s decision was invalid or made in [602]*602bad faith, or that in voting as it did the board did not further the cooperative’s corporate purpose.

Given the board vote in this case, the court is called upon in this holdover proceeding to resolve an issue on which it reserved decision in 13315 Owners Corp. v Kennedy (4 Misc 3d 931 [Hous Part, Civ Ct, NY County 2004]). The court in Kennedy debated whether a trial court must adhere to the Court of Appeals’ dictum in 40 W. 67th St. v Pullman (100 NY2d 147 [2003]) that a vote of the cooperative’s board of directors, rather than only a shareholder vote, is entitled to business judgment deference that a shareholder-tenant is objectionable. (See Kennedy, 4 Misc 3d at 939-943.) The Kennedy court opined that Pullman’s language that a cooperative board can terminate a tenancy is dictum because Pullman was based on a shareholder vote, not a board vote (see id. at 939), and because Pullman was an eviction case, whereas the cases on which it relied were not (see id. at 940, citing Keith E. Sealing, 2002-2003 Survey of New York Law, Real Property Law, 54 Syracuse L Rev 1359, 1374 [2004]).

Because the board in Kennedy did not give the shareholder-tenant proper notice or a fair opportunity to be heard {id. at 948-949), did not vote in good faith {id. at 943), and acted outside the scope of its authority {id.), the court found that the cooperative corporation was not entitled to Pullman deference (see id. at 949-950). The Kennedy court therefore did not allow the cooperative board’s vote terminating the shareholder’s tenancy to satisfy the RPAPL 711 (1) competent evidence standard necessary to obviate a court’s independent determination of objectionability. (See Kennedy at 950.) The Kennedy court for that reason did not decide whether Pullman applies only to shareholder votes. {See id. at 943.) Instead, the Kennedy court reached Pullman’s second prong: whether, assuming that a board has the power to terminate a tenancy, the shareholder-tenant’s conduct was objectionable. {See id. at 950.) In Kennedy, the court concluded that any decision on the shareholder-tenant’s objectionability required a trial. (See id. at 951.)

In this proceeding, as opposed to Kennedy, the board vote finding the shareholder-tenant objectionable was made validly, in good faith, and within the scope of the board’s authority. The court must accordingly determine whether a cooperative board has the authority to terminate a shareholder-tenant’s tenancy or whether a shareholder-tenant has the right to have a court rather than a board decide that question. This court must accord great weight to the Court of Appeals’ language in Pullman, [603]*603albeit dicta, that a board’s vote to terminate a proprietary lease must receive business judgment deference. The court finds, therefore, that the board’s vote to terminate respondent’s proprietary lease is dispositive. Thus, the court may not decide whether competent evidence of the shareholder-tenant’s alleged objectionable conduct exists to support the board’s terminating his tenancy under RPAPL 711 (1). In this case, the board’s vote itself provides that competent evidence. As such, summary judgment must be granted to petitioner cooperative.

II. The Facts

A. Petitioner’s Warnings to Respondent About His Behavior

Petitioner alleges that respondent has engaged in objectionable conduct for many years and has refused, despite written warnings required by paragraph 31 (f) of the proprietary lease, to abide by the cooperative’s rules of conduct.

On November 12, 1993, four months after respondent’s tenancy began, petitioner sent him a letter asking him to stop playing his stereo at an unreasonably loud volume level. (See petitioner’s notice of motion to dismiss respondent’s objections in point of law and for summary judgment, exhibit D.) On January 7, 1994, petitioner sent respondent a letter asking him to stop slamming his doors and playing his television and stereo loudly after 11:00 p.m. (Id.) On August 19, 1999, petitioner’s managing agent, the Insignia Residential Group, sent respondent a letter pleading with him to leave a copy of his key with the lobby attendant so that he could be let into his apartment when he locks himself out. (Id.) On March 29, 2000, Insignia sent respondent a letter to ask him to stop using the stairwell and hallway around his apartment to store his personal belongings. (Id.) In the same letter, Insignia warned respondent of the security risk he created when he rigged the second-floor stairwell doors to remain unlocked after they closed. (Id.) On October 11, 2000, petitioner’s lawyers sent respondent a letter to ask him to stop leaving his personal property in the common hallways, to stop his loud noises from 11:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m., and, once again, to give petitioner a key to his apartment. (Id.) On June 30, 2003, petitioner sent respondent a letter banning him from the laundry room, health club, and sundeck because he allegedly stole from residents who used these facilities. (Id., exhibit H.)

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

Related

40 West 67th Street v. Pullman
790 N.E.2d 1174 (New York Court of Appeals, 2003)
Levandusky v. One Fifth Avenue Apartment Corp.
553 N.E.2d 1317 (New York Court of Appeals, 1990)
Andre v. Pomeroy
320 N.E.2d 853 (New York Court of Appeals, 1974)
Auerbach v. Bennett
393 N.E.2d 994 (New York Court of Appeals, 1979)
Zuckerman v. City of New York
404 N.E.2d 718 (New York Court of Appeals, 1980)
Han Fui Hui v. Tieh Chi Ho
1 A.D.3d 274 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2003)
Horwitz v. 1025 Fifth Avenue, Inc.
7 A.D.3d 461 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2004)
Rubinstein v. 242 Apartment Corp.
189 A.D.2d 685 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1993)
Glassmeyer v. 310 Lexington Owners Corp.
232 A.D.2d 229 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1996)
Konrad v. 136 East 64th Street Corp.
254 A.D.2d 110 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1998)
40 West 67th Street v. Pullman
296 A.D.2d 120 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2002)
13315 Owners Corp. v. Kennedy
4 Misc. 3d 931 (Civil Court of the City of New York, 2004)
Cannon Point North, Inc. v. Abeles
160 Misc. 2d 30 (Appellate Terms of the Supreme Court of New York, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
6 Misc. 3d 600, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/london-terrace-towers-inc-v-davis-nycivct-2004.