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700 Bklyn Realty Llc V. Lynch

All Decisions

The court granted the landlord a money judgment for legal fees and use and occupancy in a non-primary residence holdover. The tenant failed to appear or provide discovery, leading to a default judgment of possession for the landlord. The court found the landlord was the prevailing party and therefore entitled to fees under the lease. Citing public policy to discourage non-primary residence occupancy, the court awarded the landlord $54,780 in legal fees and a separate judgment of $65,298.97 for use and occupancy and eviction costs.

Matter Of West Pierre Assoc. Llc V. Harvey

All Decisions

In this consequential decision, the Appellate Division, First Department, reversed a lower court's ruling and allowed a tenant to challenge the legality of her rent. The tenant's lease began in 2020, after the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) became effective, but the alleged unlawful rent increase dated back to 2014. The court held that applying the HSTPA to this case was a prospective application, not a retroactive one, and therefore, the tenant could examine the entire rent history under HSTPA's Part F. The court granted the tenant's motion for discovery and reinstated her rent overcharge counterclaim.

Idehen V. Stoute-Phillip

All Decisions

An attorney for the landlord was sanctioned for submitting motion papers that cited numerous non-existent cases, which were determined to be the result of using an AI-based research tool without proper verification. The court found this to be frivolous conduct under 22 NYCRR § 130-1.1, warranting a $1, 000 sanction and a referral to the State of New York Grievance Committee. This decision highlights the legal risks and ethical obligations associated with using artificial intelligence for legal research, emphasizing the duty of an attorney to verify all citations and factual statements. The attorney's subsequent filing of a 94-page document with …

Gomez V. Yang Llc

All Decisions

The court reversed a Civil Court order regarding the calculation of attorneys' fees in an HP action. The lower court awarded fees based on the rates for 18-b assigned counsel, but the Appellate Term held that legal services organizations are entitled to fees based on the prevailing market rate in the community, regardless of their nonprofit status. The case was remitted to the lower court for a new hearing to determine a reasonable fee award based on the correct standard, citing precedent that nonprofit counsel should be valued the same as private attorneys.

Rodriguez V. Hub Bk, Llc

All Decisions

The court reversed a lower court's dismissal of a tenant's illegal lockout petition, ordering restoration of possession. The tenant, a lawful occupant, was locked out of her apartment after the tenant of record died. The lower court had applied the "doctrine of futility, " reasoning that since the occupant had no possessory rights, it would have been pointless for the landlord to commence a summary proceeding. The appellate court rejected this, ruling that the doctrine of futility is no longer valid after the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (HSTPA), which grants lawful occupants the right to due …

62-60 99th St. Owner Ii, Llc V Bobchev

All Decisions

In a non-payment proceeding, the court granted the tenant's motion for leave to amend her answer and for discovery. The court held that the landlord failed to prove prejudice or that the amendments were without merit, especially since the tenant was previously pro-se. The court granted discovery on the tenant's fraudulent deregulation and rent overcharge counterclaim, finding a "totality of the circumstances" indicating a fraudulent scheme. This conclusion was supported by a 140% rent increase from the last registered rent-stabilized tenant, a gap in registrations, an unexplained re-entry into rent stabilization, and a post-HSTPA rent increase of over 20%.

1616 President St. Assoc. Llc V. Edwards

All Decisions

A landlord sought to reargue a prior order granting a tenant a 100% rent abatement for rent-impairing violations under MDL § 302-a, arguing the abatement period should not extend beyond the rent sought in the unamended petition. The court denied the motion, distinguishing a prior Appellate Term decision (1616 President Street Associates, LLC v. Ann Marie Ackie, 84 Misc 3d 128(A) [App Term, 2d Dept])concerning rent deposit requirements from the court's authority to grant a full abatement on the merits. The court affirmed that MDL § 302-a permits a 100% abatement for the entire period a rent-impairing violation remains uncorrected …

Beverly Holdings N.Y., Llc V. Blackwood

All Decisions

In this nonpayment proceeding, the court affirmed the dismissal of the petition, granting the tenant's motion for summary judgment. The tenant successfully used Multiple Dwelling Law § 302-a as an affirmative defense, proving that the landlord failed to correct rent-impairing violations in the building's public areas for over six months. The court rejected the landlord's argument of lack of access, as the violations were not within the tenant's apartment. It also dismissed the landlord's claim that the tenant failed to certify the uncorrected violations, noting that the landlord's own failure to file a certification of compliance established a prima facie …

Westchester Capital Co., Llc V. Richardson

All Decisions

The court dismissed the landlord's holdover petition, granting the tenant's motion to dismiss. The court found the petition fatally defective for failing to plead the tenant's protected status as a non-purchasing tenant under the Martin Act. Additionally, the predicate 90-day notice was deemed insufficient as it vaguely alleged a "poor history of making rent payments on time" without specific details, failing to establish "good cause" for eviction required by the Martin Act. The court denied the landlord's cross-motion to amend and the tenant's summary judgment motion as moot.

Kings Vil. Corp. V. Pascal

All Decisions

The court granted the tenant's motion to dismiss the nonpayment petition, finding the rent demand defective due to the inclusion of substantial lump-sum charges lacking specific periods of accrual. While the court noted that fees and non-rent charges are permissible in co-op nonpayment cases if allowed by the proprietary lease, the large "Prior Agent" lump sums for maintenance, assessment, and parking rendered the demand insufficient to "fairly appraise" the tenant of the arrears, thus undermining the proceeding. The dismissal was without prejudice.

Inga V. Revenco

All Decisions

The court partially granted the landlord's motion to amend the petition to include GCEL applicability and good cause grounds, and partially granted the tenant's motion to amend her answer. It denied the tenant's motion to dismiss outright. While the initial predicate notice served before GCEL's enactment was valid, the petition filed afterward needed to conform. The court allowed the landlord to proceed on the **non-payment of rent** ground, finding it sufficiently pleaded with specific amounts and dates, but dismissed the **nuisance** and **illegal sublet** grounds due to lack of factual specificity in the petition.

Hudson Shore Associates Limited Partnership, Haven On The Hudson Llc, Kenneth Levinson, And Hudson Valley Property Owners Association Et Al. V. State Of New York, New York State Division Of Housing And Community Renewal, Village Of Nyack, New York, And City Of Poughkeepsie, New York

All Decisions

Landlords challenged New York's Vacancy Provisions, alleging Fourth Amendment violations for warrantless searches of rent rolls and Fourteenth Amendment due process violations concerning vacancy calculations. The court affirmed dismissal, holding that Article 78 proceedings provide sufficient pre-compliance review for record demands, and the low risk of coercion mitigates Fourth Amendment concerns. Due process was satisfied by opportunities for landlords to contest vacancy calculations through public hearings and subsequent Article 78 review, ensuring constitutional muster.

Natale Family Trust V. Heidel

All Decisions

The Appellate Term reversed a lower court's judgment that dismissed a landlord's holdover petition. The lower court had granted tenant summary judgment, finding the premises a rent-stabilized horizontal multiple dwelling, and denied the landlord's cross-motion to amend the petition to substitute a trustee for the trust as petitioner. The Appellate Term ruled that triable issues of fact existed regarding the horizontal multiple dwelling status, precluding summary judgment. It also held that a trust, while not a proper party, does not affect subject matter jurisdiction, allowing amendment to substitute the trustee. The case was remitted for further proceedings.

Ditmas Flats, Llc V. Perez

All Decisions

The Appellate Term reversed a Civil Court order that dismissed the landlord's illegal sublet claim and denied its motion to dismiss the tenant's affirmative defenses. The court held that the predicate notices, though not naming the alleged subtenant, were sufficiently reasonable to establish grounds for eviction and enable the tenant to frame a defense, reinstating the illegal sublet claim. The nonprimary residence claim was properly dismissed due to the landlord's failure to serve a statutory nonrenewal notice. The matter was remitted to the Civil Court to determine the merits of the landlord's motion to dismiss the tenant's affirmative defenses.

Procedural Justice In Parallel Lawsuits, Sarah Parks

Fordham Law Review

The American public places a high value on access to justice and having the opportunity to be heard. These values can either be upheld or diminished by routine procedural rules. The first-to-file rule is an example of an innocuous procedural rule that is a barrier to justice. Under the first-to-file rule, when two parallel suits are filed in different federal district courts, the first-filed suit will proceed, and the second-filed suit will ordinarily be dismissed or transferred to the venue of the other suit. Transfers often terminate an individual’s case because most people cannot afford to litigate far from home. …

Brighton Realty Llc V. Berger

All Decisions

In this holdover nuisance case, the tenant moved to dismiss for improper service. The landlord's process server testified to substitute service on a person allegedly residing at the apartment, but the tenant asserted she lived alone and knew no such individual. The court found the process server's testimony not credible, citing his failure to maintain GPS records, logbooks, or adhere to terms of prior consent orders mandating compliance with legal service procedures. The court emphasized that his complete lack of records, inconsistent testimony, and prior disciplinary issues undermined the validity of service. Consequently, the court sustained the traverse and dismissed …

Central Harlem Associates Llc V. Robbins

All Decisions

In this holdover proceeding involving a LIHTC property, the tenant moved to dismiss on grounds that the landlord failed to serve a Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) notice as required by federal regulations prior to eviction. The landlord conceded the omission but argued no prejudice resulted and that the tenant had prior knowledge of VAWA rights. The court rejected these defenses, holding that predicate notice defects are fatal and not subject to amendment, emphasizing the mandatory nature of VAWA compliance. The petition was dismissed without prejudice. Practice note: In federally subsidized housing, omission of required predicate notices such as VAWA …

Okonkwo V. Galbreath

All Decisions

In this expired license holdover proceeding, Respondent moved to dismiss on the ground that the subject SRO building is subject to the Good Cause Eviction Law and Petitioner had not alleged cause to evict. The court dismissed the petition because Petitioner, though claiming the small landlord exemption under RPL § 231-c, failed to plead in the petition or predicate notice the ownership disclosure required by RPAPL § 741(5-a) and (5-b).

Fordham Lawyer, No. 24 - Spring 2025, Fordham Law Alumni Association, Fordham Law School

Fordham Lawyer

Fordham Lawyer magazine was first published in 1988 and continued through 2004. It returned in 2011 under Dean Michael M. Martin. The magazine shines a spotlight on faculty research, the Law School community, and the accomplishments of our alumni. No issues were published between 2004 and 2011.

Rp Wimbledon Owner, Llc V. Chisholm

All Decisions

A landlord's GCEL holdover petition, based on nonpayment, was dismissed for failing to provide sufficient detail regarding alleged rent arrears in both the non-renewal notice and the petition. The court ruled that due to the tenant's right to cure under GCEL and RPAPL § 751, a lump sum allegation of arrears was unreasonably vague, prejudicing the tenant's ability to defend or resolve the dispute. The decision emphasized that predicate notices and petitions must include enough factual specificity, like periods of nonpayment, to allow a tenant to understand the claim and interpose defenses.

Ash Ave Llc V. Allison

All Decisions

Petitioner filed a non-payment proceeding against a rent stabilized tenant after a rent reduction order was issued for a defective intercom system. The tenant moved to dismiss, arguing the petition and rent demand were defective for failing to reference the rent reduction order and for seeking excessive rent. The court found the petition defective, particularly for not including the rent reduction order, and granted the tenant's motion to dismiss.

Social Movement Lawyering And Due Process Values, Susan D. Carle

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Law Jobs: Professional Regulation, The Division Of Legal Labor, And Institutional Change, Emily S. Taylor Poppe

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Efta Coverage Of Modern Consumer Wire Transfers: Consumer Financial Regulation In The Wake Of Loper Bright, Benjamin Gygi

Fordham Law Review

The rise of online banking has led to a proliferation of consumer fraud. Schemes aimed at stealing consumer funds using wire transfers executed through online banking portals have proven particularly devastating to consumers because of a perceived loophole in the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) that leaves consumers with full liability for funds stolen through wire transfers. Consumer advocacy groups, and most notably the New York Attorney General, have recently argued that this loophole does not really exist; they claim that the EFTA’s text conclusively covers certain parts of modern wire transfer processes initiated through online banking portals. Considering the …

Mtglq Invs., Lp V. Mendoza

All Decisions

In this post-foreclosure holdover proceeding, the tenant moved to dismiss the petition based on the use of an outdated predicate notice. The petitioner, MTGLQ Investors, admitted to a filing error and cross-moved to amend the petition, submitting the correct notice of service. The court, under CPLR §2001, allowed the petitioner to correct the error and deemed the correct notice served nunc pro tunc, denying the tenant's motion to dismiss. The tenant's motion to file an answer was granted, and the matter was scheduled for trial.

1334 B Llc. V. Pritchard

All Decisions

In this holdover proceeding, the landlord erroneously alleged that the tenant, a rent-stabilized tenant, was a licensee. After sanctions were imposed against landlord's counsel, the landlord moved to discontinue the proceeding. The court granted the motion but also issued an Order to Correct outstanding housing code violations and permitted the tenant to amend their answer to include counterclaims, a significant victory for the tenant given the initial flawed legal position of the landlord.

Registry Systems As Gatekeepers: How Patent Registries Create Systemic Barriers To Innovation, Miriam Marcowitz-Bitton, Ori Sharon

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Picture an inventor. Anyone at all. We bet you imagined a man, is that right? If you did, that’s not surprising—our study of over 140,000 patent applications reveals that three out of four patents name all-male inventors, and only three percent of patents represent the inventions of women-only teams. But this massive gender gap is not just about who chooses to invent—it’s about who gets to protect their innovations through the patent system.

This Article presents groundbreaking evidence that women face systemic barriers in securing patents, even when they clear the hurdles to become inventors. Drawing on an unprecedented dataset …

Ai In The Courtroom: The Boundaries Of Robolawyers And Robojudges, Hadar Y. Jabotinsky, Michal Lavi

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly developing and undoubtedly impacting every aspect of our lives. From lethal drones, to Apple’s Siri, and improved cancer diagnostics, AI algorithms are also increasingly integrated into decision-making. This article illuminates the impact of AI on the legal system and profession.

Currently, AI legal tools support lawyers’ and judges’ work and can assist in tasks such as due diligence, legal analysis, classification of documents by Technology-Assisted Review (TAR), providing legal advice, and engaging in predicting legal judgments. AI can even assist judges in decision making for risk assessments during sentencing. The …

Evicting Evictions, Aissatou Barry

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

In Right Relationship: Practicing And Teaching Trauma-Responsive Restorative Advocacy, Amy Dallas

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.