Landlord Can't Make Second Request for Summary Judgment in Same Case

Landlord sued to evict unregulated tenant based on termination of her monthly tenancy. In response, tenant claimed that the apartment was improperly deregulated and that she'd been overcharged. Landlord asked the court to rule in its favor without a trial in a motion based on its claim that the unit was deregulated. The court denied landlord's motion in 2018, and landlord didn't appeal that decision. Landlord again requested summary judgment from the court in 2020 after the court allowed tenant to amend her answer. The court denied landlord's second motion.

Landlord appealed and lost. The general rule is that a party can't file successive summary judgment motions in a case without showing newly discovered evidence or other sufficient cause. In this case, landlord's new motion was entirely based on proof available to it at the time it filed its first motion, and was based on the same claim that the unit was properly deregulated. The fact that the court had permitted tenant to file an amended answer with additional defenses didn't create any new issue with respect to her original defense of illegal deregulation. 

3505 Broadway, LLC v. Emond-Bourhi: Index No. 570537/22, 2023 NY Slip Op 50137(U)(App. T. 1 Dept.; 2/27/23; Hagler, PJ, Tisch, James, JJ)