Landlord Bound by Prior Decision

Landlord sued to evict tenant, claiming the apartment was exempt from rent stabilization coverage. In 1987, landlord and tenant had agreed to be bound by a pending case between landlord and another tenant. That case ruled that apartments in buildings converted to cooperative ownership were entitled to rent stabilization coverage as long as they hadn't been offered for sale before the effective date of the rent stabilization law. Tenant argued that his apartment remained subject to rent stabilization because it hadn't been offered for sale before the effective date. Landlord then asked the court to set aside the agreement with tenant, claiming that amendments to the rent stabilization law made tenant's apartment exempt, despite the court ruling. The court refused, ruling that landlord was bound by the prior court decision. The same facts and legal theory applied to both tenants' cases. Also, the rent stabilization law's amendments went into effect before the first case was decided. So, landlord can't get a new ruling from the court.

625 Park Corp. v. Donne: NYLJ, p. 25, col. 2 (12/6/94) (App. T. 1 Dept.; Parness, JP, McCooe, Glen, JJ)