Digital Commons Network^™

The Quiet Revival Of The Effective Vindication Of Rights Doctrine, Myriam Gilles

Fordham Law Review

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in American Express v. Italian Colors Restaurantwas widely seen as the death knell for the “effective vindication of rights” doctrine—a judicially created rule that arbitration agreements are enforceable only “so long as the prospective litigant effectively may vindicate its statutory cause of action in the arbitral forum.” By upholding a class action–banning arbitration provision that rendered arbitration economically irrational, Italian Colors appeared to extinguish any meaningful limits on the enforcement of arbitration agreements.

But reports of the doctrine’s demise were premature. This Article uncovers how, in the decade since Italian Colors, lower …

Wilmington Savings Fund Society, Fsb V. Mcfarlane

All Decisions

A landlord bank commenced a post-foreclosure holdover proceeding under RPAPL § 713(5). After answers were filed, a subsequent purchaser of the property moved to be substituted as petitioner and for use and occupancy pendente lite. The court granted the substitution, finding the original landlord had standing at commencement and the new landlord met CPLR § 1018 requirements. However, the court denied the request for use and occupancy, as the statutory conditions under RPAPL § 745 for such an order had not yet been met. The new landlord bears the burden of proving proper commencement at trial.

Francilot V. Mays

All Decisions

The court granted the tenant's motion for summary judgment, dismissing the landlord's holdover petition. The court found that the lease lacked a conditional limitation, which is necessary to automatically terminate a tenancy upon breach, allowing only the landlord's election to terminate. Without such a limitation, the landlord's proper remedy before lease expiration was an ejectment action, not a summary holdover proceeding. Additionally, the predicate notice to cure and notice of termination were deemed impermissibly vague, as they merely restated lease provisions and made conclusory statements about breaches without sufficient detail or new allegations arising during the cure period, thus rendering …

Tracey-Douglas V. Douglas

All Decisions

In a holdover proceeding, the tenant's motion to dismiss was granted due to the landlord's failure to properly serve the predicate 60-day notice. The purported substitute service was defective as it lacked proof of required mailings. Additionally, the landlord failed to comply with the Good Cause Eviction Law (GCEL) pleading requirements. Although claiming a "small landlord" exemption, the petition did not provide the statutorily mandated disclosures and contained contradictory allegations regarding the grounds for eviction. The court dismissed the petition against all respondents.

Jenkins V. Ducker

All Decisions

The Civil Court sua sponte dismissed a holdover action initiated by the landlord. The court found that the landlord failed to comply with the Good Cause Eviction Law (GCEL) notice requirements by not including the necessary small landlord disclosure under RPL §231-c and RPL §214(1) in the predicate notice. The court held that a defective GCEL notice is unamendable and constitutes a failure to meet a condition precedent for a holdover action. Consequently, the action was dismissed without prejudice, allowing the landlord to commence a new action after correcting the defect.

Pejudo Realty Corp. V. Bryk

All Decisions

The Appellate Term reversed the Civil Court's sua sponte dismissal of the landlord's nonpayment petition, reinstating it and remanding for further proceedings. The lower court had dismissed the petition due to alleged defects, even though tenants failed to appear and landlord was not given notice or an opportunity to be heard. The Appellate Term held that sua sponte dismissal, while not appealable as of right, is an extraordinary remedy only justified in rare circumstances. No such circumstances existed here, as tenants had not sought dismissal, and the landlord was denied due process. The Court did not rule on the merits.

Maddicks V. 106-108 Convent Bcr, Llc

All Decisions

The Appellate Division affirmed the denial of tenants' motion, seeking a declaration of a rent overcharge scheme. The motion, improperly brought under CPLR 906(1) and thus treated as one for summary judgment, was denied because tenants failed to provide all necessary documentary evidence, such as leases and underlying records for claimed improvements, to meet their prima facie burden. The court noted that while an attorney affirmation is permissible for admissible documents, personal knowledge is required for unrefutable facts. The court also clarified that post-2024 legislative amendments (L 2024, ch 95) eliminated the common law fraud standard and tenant affidavit requirement …

1627-1635 Amsterdam Ave. Llc V. Wolfe

All Decisions

The court granted summary judgment dismissing this nonpayment petition because the subject building requires a certificate of occupancy but does not have one. Open Department of Buildings violations served as prima facie evidence of the deficiency, which the landlord did not dispute. Relying on the controlling Court of Appeals precedent in Chazon, LLC v Maugenest, the court dismissed decisions the landlord cited to the contrary as outliers.

650 Crown Equities, Llc V. Sealey

All Decisions

In this nonpayment proceeding, the tenant moved to amend her answer to assert a fraudulent rent overcharge claim, overcharge damages, and discovery, citing a significant pre-HSTPA rent increase. The court denied the tenant's motion for a fraudulent overcharge claim and overcharge damages. However, it granted discovery to review the full rent history to determine a reliable basis for the 2007 rent increase, which would *prospectively* set the legal regulated rent. The court held that post-HSTPA overcharge damages for nonfraudulent pre-HSTPA conduct cannot be awarded if they rely on new, unconstitutionally retroactive calculation methods. Other proposed defenses were granted.

Federal National Mortgage Association V. Goffe

All Decisions

A landlord commenced a post-foreclosure holdover proceeding and moved to amend the caption to substitute a new owner as petitioner. The tenant cross-moved to dismiss for lack of standing, arguing the proposed new landlord was not the direct purchaser from the foreclosure sale. The court denied the landlord's motion and granted the tenant's cross-motion. It found that the proposed new landlord, being "one-step removed" from the original foreclosure purchaser, lacked standing under RPAPL §713(5) to maintain the proceeding. Consequently, the case was dismissed.

2118 Group Llc V. Lior Group Llc

All Decisions

Landlord commenced a commercial holdover proceeding against a corporate tenant that was subleasing residential apartments to occupants under a triple net lease. The court dismissed the proceeding without prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, holding that a commercial holdover proceeding cannot be maintained where the landlord knew or acquiesced in the residential use of the demised premises.

Edwards V. Blue Moon 24 Llc

All Decisions

In this HP proceeding, the court denied the landlord's motion to vacate a default Order to Correct for housing code violations. The landlord argued a lack of notice regarding the court date and alleged tenant non-cooperation with repairs. The court held that the landlord's counsel received electronic notice through NYSCEF, denying the lack of notice claim. Furthermore, the court found the landlord failed to prove tenant non-cooperation, noting a reduction in outstanding violations. The tenant's separate motion to restore the proceeding for compliance and assessment of civil penalties was also denied due to the tenant's failure to appear on the …

Residents Assoc. 186 E. 104 St. Hdfc V. Escorborg

All Decisions

Court granted partial summary judgment on respondent's Tenant Safe Harbor Act (TSHA) defense, holding that respondent's financial hardship declaration filed in 2025 created a rebuttable presumption of financial hardship during the TSHA covered period (March 7, 2020 to January 15, 2022), with no apparent statutory time limit barring belated filing. In the absence of any landlord objection or rebuttal, the court held that any judgment for rent arrears accrued during the covered period shall be non-possessory only.

University Riverview Assoc. V. Chisholm

All Decisions

Court denied discovery, granted landlord's cross-motion to amend the petition to allege GCEL coverage, but then dismissed the amended petition under RPAPL § 741(4) for failure to state any facts about unpaid rent due and owing. Court held that the GCEL ground of nonpayment (RPL § 216[1][a][i]) requires the petition to allege specific facts about unpaid rent, and that alleging only a sum of use and occupancy owed was insufficient because 'rent' and 'U&O' are legally distinct terms, and failure to pay use and occupancy does not constitute a 'good cause' ground for lease non-renewal under GCEL.

Useini V. Jamaluddin

All Decisions

In this holdover proceeding, the tenant moved to dismiss for landlord's alleged failure to comply with Good Cause Eviction Law (GCEL) disclosure requirements, arguing the predicate notice was fatally defective. The landlord cross-moved to amend the petition. The court denied the tenant's motion, holding that the GCEL notice under RPL § 231-c only requires the landlord to check the appropriate exemption box, not disclose detailed ownership information. The court granted the landlord's motion to amend the petition, allowing the case to proceed, noting that the landlord bears the burden of proving the truth of its allegations at trial.

Perets, Llc V. Riche

All Decisions

Court granted respondent's motion to dismiss no-grounds/non-renewal of tenancy holdover, holding that the failure to attach the Good Cause Eviction Law Notice required by RPL § 231-c to the predicate 90-day notice of termination served under RPL § 226-c was a fatal, non-amendable defect requiring dismissal. Court sharply admonished and cautioned landlord's counsel for repeatedly refusing to withdraw the defective proceeding despite demonstrating an inadequate grasp of basic GCEL principles, directing counsel to disclose the decision if accused of professional misconduct.

Masaryk Towers Corp V. Tennassee

All Decisions

Court dismissed nuisance holdover in this Mitchell-Lama cooperative apartment for failure to comply with mandatory notice requirements in the Occupancy Agreement. Petitioner failed to serve a notice to cure and a 30-day notice of termination as required by the Occupancy Agreement's plain language, notwithstanding that HPD's Mitchell-Lama regulations do not expressly impose these requirements, and petitioner also failed to obtain the requisite vote of the Board of Directors to terminate the Occupancy Agreement.

Lawless Antitrust, John M. Newman

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Why Capitalism Needs Democracy And Democracy Needs Capitalism, Luigi Zingales

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Is Tax “Law”?, Luís C. Calderón Gómez

Fordham Law Review

Although taxation remains a hotly contested issue in debates by both politicians and political theorists—over the optimal size of government, distributive (and sometimes corrective) justice, or even the legitimacy of current private property arrangements—taxation has been largely ignored by legal theorists, to the detriment of both tax law and legal theory. This Article argues that tax law, driven by its battle against tax evasion, is in deep conflict with widely accepted conceptions of “legality”—that is, the qualities that make a rule distinctively and normatively “law.” This matters because legality is a key buttress in jurisprudential and political theory accounts that …

Interrogation Of Regents And Administrative Reliance Interests In The Context Of Vacillating Immigration Policy, Sarah Engelberg-Nolan

Fordham Law Review

Arbitrary and capricious review under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) operates as an important agency-accountability tool when invoked as intended. But the recent U.S. Supreme Court case Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California and subsequent lower federal court cases have opened the floodgates to a more searching and potentially activist review. In Regents, the Court held that the administration of President Donald J. Trump could not rescind the discretionary immigration program Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in the manner the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) attempted, in part because DHS failed to …

False Conflict: Colorblindness And Section 2 Of The Voting Rights Act, W. Kerrel Murray

Fordham Law Review

If friends and foes of section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 agree on one thing, it is the irrepressible conflict between section 2’s attention to race and constitutional colorblindness. They’re wrong. Rightly understood, section 2’s design is remarkably compatible with colorblind constitutionalism’s letter and spirit.

To show how, this Article first returns to section 2’s origins and the preexisting approach its text codifies. That approach had an underappreciated ethos: When intentional discrimination’s effects sufficiently distort a political system, an electoral rule’s results might impugn its unconstitutionality, even if the rule had been adopted without discriminatory purpose. Drawing …

Turner V. Jp Morgan Chase Bank National Association

All Decisions

In this illegal lockout proceeding, the Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County, following an inquest due to the landlord-respondents' non-appearance, awarded a final judgment of possession to the tenant-petitioner. The court found that the tenant was unlawfully deprived of possession when the apartment doors were sealed. The landlord was ordered to provide the tenant with a key and remove structures barring entry, allowing access to belongings. Full possession is contingent upon the lifting of an HPD vacate order, which was issued due to the landlord's failure to maintain essential services like heat and hot water.

Asking Hospitals To Do Their Share, Kimberly Mutcherson

Fordham Law Review Online

No abstract provided.

Law's Limits: Abortion And The Social Determinants Of Health, Maya Manian

Fordham Law Review Online

No abstract provided.

Bedrock Equities Llc V. Husain

All Decisions

Court denied tenant's motion to dismiss GCEL holdover premised on nonpayment of rent under RPL § 216(1)(a)(i), holding that a predicate 90-day notice of termination need not include specific factual allegations regarding the amounts of rent arrears or the months unpaid. Court noted that the landlord still bears the burden of proof at trial including demonstrating good cause to evict, the tenant retains numerous defenses, and a post-trial cure is available under RPAPL § 751(1) as incorporated by RPL § 216(3).

Field V. Pinto

All Decisions

In this licensee holdover under RPAPL § 713, court denies respondents' motion to dismiss and grants petitioner's cross-motion for summary judgment. Respondents found to be licensees, not tenants, because they lacked exclusive control and possession of a defined space — they slept in a curtained-off portion of the living room/kitchen. Rent payments alone did not create a tenancy where none was contemplated.

Dhansingh V. Hager

All Decisions

Court granted motion to join DOB as a respondent in HP proceeding seeking correction of a DOB elevator violation, holding that Housing Court has broad jurisdiction under CCA § 110(d) to enforce not only HPD-administered Housing Maintenance Code violations but also violations of the MDL and local laws pertaining to housing standards that are under DOB's responsibility.

Stuyvesant Square Apts Llc V. Vorick

All Decisions

The landlord commenced a holdover proceeding against the tenant, alleging illegal residential occupancy of a former medical office due to uncorrectable building code violations concerning courtyard dimensions affecting natural light requirements. The court granted the landlord a final judgment of possession, finding the unit could not be legalized. However, the court also awarded the tenant treble damages for rent overcharge, holding that a commercial unit used residentially can be rent-stabilized. It dismissed the tenant's harassment claim, distinguishing "dwelling" from a narrower "dwelling unit," but granted an order to correct violations. The tenant's request for attorneys' fees was denied as they …

Jober Upper Fifth Ave. Llc V Williams

All Decisions

In this non-primary residence holdover proceeding, the landlord sought possession against the tenant of record, Michael Williams, who had permanently vacated to a nursing home, and undertenant Kimberly Bivens. Bivens asserted succession rights as a non-traditional family member. The court found that Bivens credibly established both an emotional and financial commitment with the former tenant for over 14 years and co-residency for the statutory period. Her documentary and testimonial evidence, including a shared bank account and healthcare proxy, were unrebutted. Consequently, the court granted Bivens succession rights, dismissed the petition against her, and ordered the landlord to issue her a …