Landlord Can Consent to Key Card System

Landlord asked the DHCR for permission to install a new building entry key card system in a 21-building complex. The new system replaced tenants' metal keys with electronic key cards. The individual key cards contained tenant photographs and, at tenant's option, tenant's name. Tenants objected to landlord's plan, claiming that it could lead to identity theft. The DHCR ruled for landlord. Tenants appealed, claiming that the DHCR's decision was arbitrary and unreasonable. The court ruled that the DHCR's ruling was reasonable and allowed for the use of new technology to improve building security. The DHCR had properly ruled that tenants' concerns about identity theft were based on speculation, not facts. Landlord took sufficient steps to prevent any risk of identity theft by not placing confidential personal information on the card key or in the photographic database used in connection with the card key system.

Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village Tenant's Assn. v. Metropolitan Life Ins. and Annuity Co., Inc.: NYLJ, 8/9/06, p. 22, col. 1 (Sup. Ct. NY; Acosta, J)