Landlord Can't Compel Disclosure of SCRIE Records

Landlord requested information from the City of New York relating to certain tenants who were receiving SCRIE program benefits. Landlord claimed that it was entitled to the information under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). The Department for the Aging disagreed and refused to disclose the requested documents. The city said that disclosing any information on people who received SCRIE benefits would be an invasion of their privacy. Landlord then sued the agency and asked the court to compel production of the records. Landlord argued that it already knew the identities of the tenants it sought information about. And landlord said that the city could delete financial information from the documents requested.
The court and appeals court ruled against landlord. Since SCRIE benefits are limited to households under a certain income level, deleting financial information wouldn't cure privacy concerns. Disclosing the records would still permit the public to determine the general income level of the SCRIE tenants and members of their households. And it didn't matter that landlord already knew the identities of the tenants. Landlord sought specific information, and it was questionable whether privacy concerns could be satisfied by deleting some information from the records requested.

Rhino Assets, LLC v. NYC Department for the Aging: NYLJ, 3/26/09, p. 31, col. 4 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Tom, JP, Mazzarelli, Nardelli, Catterson, Moskowitz, JJ)