Smilow v. Ulrich

11 Misc. 3d 179
CourtCivil Court of the City of New York
DecidedDecember 1, 2005
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 11 Misc. 3d 179 (Smilow v. Ulrich) 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
Smilow v. Ulrich, 11 Misc. 3d 179 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2005).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Gerald Lebovits, J.

I. Background

Petitioner, Marc Smilow, brought this owner’s use holdover proceeding to recover possession of respondent’s rent-stabilized apartment, which is located at 26 West 87th Street in New York County. Petitioner purportedly intends to convert the building — including all the rent-regulated apartments in the building — into a single-family home for himself, his wife, and his two young children.

Respondent moves under CPLR 408 for leave in this special proceeding to serve on petitioner a document-production demand and a request to depose Jill Smilow, petitioner’s wife. Petitioner consents to his own deposition but opposes both document production and Ms. Smilow’s deposition. Petitioner also argues in the alternative that if the court grants leave to respondent to serve the document demand she attaches as exhibit “G,” he may still decline to produce the demanded documents. According to petitioner, respondent did not move to compel disclosure but rather only for leave to serve a document and deposition demand.

Respondent seeks disclosure to ascertain petitioner’s good-faith intention to use the building as a single-family home. Respondent wants to learn about petitioner’s other properties, his other attempts to recover apartments for his or his family’s use, his plans to renovate the building, and his primary residence. [181]*181(See respondent’s proposed notice to produce documents and other information.)

Respondent’s motion for disclosure raises three issues. The first is whether she is entitled to disclosure to determine petitioner’s good faith to bring this owner’s use proceeding. The second is whether, if disclosure is warranted, respondent is entitled to depose Ms. Smilow, a nonparty. The third is whether respondent’s motion for an order under CPLR 408 asking for leave of the court to serve demand for documents necessarily encompasses an order to compel compliance with the disclosure request.

Petitioner argues that respondent’s motion for disclosure should be denied. According to petitioner, she has failed to demonstrate “ample need.” Petitioner contends that he has made his good-faith intentions to use the subject building as his family home “abundantly clear” to respondent. In this regard, petitioner alleges that he moved into the building with his family in early July 2005 and began the initial construction of the premises, as evidenced by the presence of construction workers on site. Petitioner also argues that in his notice of nonrenewal, he notified respondent that he intends to renovate the subject building to create a single-family home and that he has retained an architectural firm to draft a renovation plan. (See petitioner’s affirmation in opposition to respondent’s motion for discovery 1Í1F 37-40.) From this, petitioner suggests that respondent cannot dispute his claim.

Respondent questions the validity of petitioner’s assertions. Respondent states that she has no personal knowledge about petitioner’s actual intentions for using the apartment and that a basis exists to question petitioner’s credibility and his good-faith intentions. First, respondent asserts that petitioner has an economic incentive to evict the rent-regulated tenants in the building, to regain possession of the apartments, and to re-rent them at market rates. Second, respondent alleges that petitioner owns other properties in New York City to which he could move without having to evict respondent. Third, respondent asserts she has reason to know that petitioner cannot possibly recover all the apartments in the building to create a “single family home.” According to respondent, one of the tenants cannot be evicted. Finally, respondent asserts that the true purpose of this owner’s use proceeding is retaliation because she has rallied the other tenants in the building against petitioner. (See Natalie Ulrich’s affidavit, Sept. 6, 2005, 1Í1Í 7-11.)

[182]*182II. Legal Standard for Disclosure in Owner’s Use Proceedings

Disclosure is unavailable as a matter of right in summary proceedings. Leave of the court must be obtained to conduct disclosure. The primary purpose of the leave requirement is to make summary proceedings expedient and reduce costs. But no per se rule prohibits disclosure in summary proceedings, and “a summary proceeding, despite its name, is nonetheless a judicial proceeding, and . . . the ends of justice ought not be sacrificed to speed.” (42 W. 15th St. Corp. v Friedman, 208 Misc 123, 125 [App Term, 1st Dept 1955, per curiam].)

To justify disclosure, a movant must demonstrate “ample need” for a claim or defense. Requests for disclosure should be carefully tailored to obtain information necessary to a tenant’s defenses or counterclaims. (New York Univ. v Farkas, 121 Misc 2d 643, 647 [Civ Ct, NY County 1983]; see generally Anthony J. Fiorella, Jr., Outside Counsel, A Judicial Perspective on Permissible Discovery in Summary Proceedings, NYLJ, Aug. 19, 1999, at 1, col 1; Richard T. Walsh, Outside Counsel, Disclosure in Special Proceedings Under CPLR § 408, NYLJ, Dec. 5, 1995, at 1, col 1.) In the seminal New York Univ. v Farkas, the court provided a list of factors on whether ample need has been met. The factors include whether (1) “the petitioner has asserted facts to establish a cause of action”; (2) the movant has demonstrated a need to determine “information directly related to the cause of action”; (3) the information requested is “carefully tailored and is likely to clarify the disputed facts”; (4) granting disclosure would lead to prejudice; (5) the court can alleviate the prejudice; and (6) whether the court can structure discovery to protect pro se tenants against any adverse effects of a landlord’s discovery requests. (Farkas, 121 Misc 2d at 647.)

A motion for leave to conduct disclosure is not for a landlord’s exclusive benefit. A tenant may also be granted similar relief if the disclosure demand reaches the ample-need threshold to defend against the proceeding. A tenant’s request for disclosure in an owner’s use proceeding may not be conclusory. (E.g. Blane v Isles, NYLJ, Apr. 28, 1987, at 5, col 4 [App Term, 1st Dept, per curiam] [denying disclosure because “tenant has not demonstrated . . . the existence of circumstances warranting disclosure”]; Trojan v Wisniewska, 8 Misc 3d 382, 392 [Hous Part, Civ Ct, Kings County 2005] [“The mere conclusory statements that the petitioner must prove ‘good faith’ at trial, without more, does not demonstrate ‘ample need’ for discovery”]; Khan v Pizarro, NYLJ, Jan. 4, 1993, at 22, col 6 [Hous Part, Civ Ct, [183]*183Bronx County] [same].) But disclosure is routinely granted in owner’s use cases for tenants who provide specifics about depositions or documentary evidence sought.

In owner’s use proceedings, courts have granted tenants’ motions for disclosure when the facts relating to the proposed use of the apartment in question, including the owners’ good-faith intention to use the apartment for their personal use, were in the landlord’s exclusive possession. (See e.g. Miller v Vosooghi, NYLJ, Apr. 18, 2001, at 18, col 1 [App Term, 1st Dept, per curiam] [finding that tenant showed ample need when landlord’s intent to recover apartment was in landlord’s exclusive knowledge]; Teichman v Ciapi,

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Bluebook (online)
11 Misc. 3d 179, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smilow-v-ulrich-nycivct-2005.