Yoi-Lee Realty Corp. v. 177th Street Realty Associates

208 A.D.2d 185, 626 N.Y.S.2d 61, 1995 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1559
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedFebruary 14, 1995
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 208 A.D.2d 185 (Yoi-Lee Realty Corp. v. 177th Street Realty Associates) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Yoi-Lee Realty Corp. v. 177th Street Realty Associates, 208 A.D.2d 185, 626 N.Y.S.2d 61, 1995 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1559 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Sullivan, J. P.

The following facts are germane to this appeal from the grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants upon their first counterclaim.

Plaintiff Yoi-Lee Realty Corporation and defendant 177th Street Realty Associates, on or about August 29, 1991, entered into a written contract of sale and executed various survival agreements, collectively referred to as the contract of sale, by which 177th Street was to convey premises known as 12-16 East 177th Street, Bronx, New York, to Yoi-Lee for $367,000, subject to an existing first mortgage securing an outstanding balance of $174,795.55 held by nonparty 1987 Lake Candle-wood Estates, Inc. and a $165,204.45 purchase-money second mortgage, the subject of this lawsuit, to be taken back by [187]*187177th Street. A closing took place that same day, August 29, 1991, in accordance with the foregoing terms and conditions. As part of the survival agreements, 177th Street represented that it was current in all its obligations under the first mortgage.

Paragraph 43 of the purchase-money second mortgage, executed on August 29, 1991, provided as follows: "It is understood that the Mortgagor shall not be personally liable with respect to the obligation of this mortgage but Mortgagee shall look solely to the value of the mortgaged property in connection with the repayment of the indebtedness.” Under its terms, the second mortgage was to be " 'wrapped-around’ ” a proposed in rem agreement to be entered into on or before September 6, 1991 between the City of New York and 177th Street with respect to tax arrears and other unsatisfied charges against the property in the approximate sum of $36,264. 177th Street failed to enter into the in rem agreement with the City until June 12, 1992, after the commencement of a foreclosure action by the first mortgagee, and never advised Yoi-Lee of that fact, thereby subjecting the conveyed property, by virtue of the unpaid real estate taxes, water and sewer and other charges, to in rem foreclosure by the City as well as foreclosure by the first mortgagee.

On or about February 6, 1992, Lake Candlewood commenced a foreclosure action on the first mortgage on the basis of unpaid real estate taxes and emergency repair liens against the property, which arrears should have been satisfied under the in rem agreement. According to Yoi-Lee, based on information received from a principal of Lake Candlewood, the foreclosure action was prompted and encouraged by defendant Nicholas Chimienti, a partner in 177th Street, "as part of a scheme * * * to benefit himself at the expense of’ the other partners of 177th Street and Yoi-Lee.

Thereafter, on March 12, 1992, 177th Street and Lake Candlewood agreed, in writing, that 177th Street would, no later than April 15, 1992, pay all outstanding tax arrears and reimburse Lake Candlewood for its legal expenses incurred in the foreclosure proceeding in return for which that proceeding would be discontinued. 177th Street did not, however, pay its tax arrears by April 15, 1992 or reimburse Lake Candlewood, as promised. Instead, 177th Street commenced an action against the City of New York Department of Housing Preservation and Development, challenging the City’s authority to impose and collect charges levied against the property.

[188]*188In an effort to preserve its equity in the property, Yoi-Lee, on May 22, 1992, entered into a stipulation of settlement with Lake Candlewood calling for the discontinuance of the foreclosure action upon Yoi-Lee’s payment, as agreed, of all taxes and charges in arrears with respect to the property and all past-due mortgage principal installments and interest as well as reimbursement of any legal fees, costs and disbursements incurred by Lake Candlewood in connection with the foreclosure proceeding. Pursuant to the stipulation, Lake Candle-wood also assigned to Yoi-Lee all its rights against 177th Street under the March 12, 1992 agreement. In accordance with the terms of the stipulation, Yoi-Lee paid $24,156.50 to the City Collector in satisfaction of the unpaid real estate taxes and related charges. Earlier, on June 5, 1992, it had paid Lake Candlewood $5,806.19 in satisfaction of all the mortgage payments due under the first mortgage and $3,471.50 in reimbursement of Lake Candlewood’s legal fees and expenses incurred in the prosecution of the foreclosure action. Thus, Yoi-Lee was forced to expend $33,434.19, for which, it contends, 177th Street was liable, to dispose of the foreclosure action. In addition, it claims to have expended an additional $2,214.38 to defend its interests in that action and to have borrowed $40,000 at 10% interest per annum to clear the property of the various charges and liens.

Yoi-Lee also claims additional damage as a result of 177th Street’s misrepresentations, which survive the closing. At the closing, 177th Street represented that it had filed J-51 applications with respect to the installation of a new boiler and windows at the premises and that it would provide any documentation necessary to complete the filing process as well as for rent increases for boiler, window, and entrance door installation and painting work. No such documentation has been forthcoming. Instead, 177th Street claims that the J-51 application cannot be processed because of outstanding violations against the premises. Yoi-Lee claims that the violations are for plumbing and boiler installation work performed by 177th Street, which is the only party capable of clearing the violations. Yoi-Lee estimates the value of the J-51 benefit to be $100,000 over the life of the tax abatement.

177th Street also represented at the closing that the City had not done any emergency repair work that would result in charges against the premises and agreed to indemnify and hold Yoi-Lee harmless in that regard in the amount of $5,000. After the closing, Yoi-Lee discovered that charges for emer[189]*189gen.cy repairs were levied against the property in the sum of $2,873.51 and received notice that the City would be recouping $286 per month for four months in the aggregate amount of $1,144 for emergency repair work performed in one of the apartments. 177th Street has disclaimed any responsibility for these repairs or charges.

On June 17, 1992, 177th Street served a written notice of default, declaring the entire outstanding balance of principal due, based on Yoi-Lee’s failure to pay the monthly interest installments due on the second mortgage note from December 1, 1991 through June 1, 1992. Yoi-Lee thereafter, on or about July 6,1992 commenced this action, alleging the various noted defaults in 12 causes of action. 177th Street interposed an answer consisting of a general denial and several affirmative defenses as well as a counterclaim seeking $165,203.34 with interest, costs and disbursements, based upon Yoi-Lee’s default under the purchase-money mortgage note, and promptly moved for summary judgment on the counterclaim. Yoi-Lee cross-moved for summary judgment dismissing the counterclaim, asserting, inter alia, that paragraph 43 of the mortgage relieved it of personal liability for any default under the note and, in any event, a set-off for the monies it expended to protect its equity in the premises as a result of 177th Street’s default in its obligations under the contract of sale.

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Bluebook (online)
208 A.D.2d 185, 626 N.Y.S.2d 61, 1995 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1559, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/yoi-lee-realty-corp-v-177th-street-realty-associates-nyappdiv-1995.