Landlords Can't Discharge HPD Liens for Tenant Relocation Costs

New York’s highest court reviewed two similar cases. In the first case, a Brooklyn landlord sought to discharge an HPD lien for costs incurred by HPD to relocate tenants displaced from apartments as the result of an emergency vacate order. The court granted HPD’s request to dismiss the case, and the appeals court ruled against landlord. In the second case, the court granted HPD’s request to deny a Bronx landlord’s action to discharge its lien, but the appeals court ruled for landlord on appeal. The Court of Appeals ruled that a lien placed on a privately owned building by HPD for reimbursement of expenses incurred to relocate tenants displaced by a vacate order can’t be summarily discharged by a trial court under the Lien Law. Any dispute about the reasonableness of HPD’s claimed expenses in an otherwise facially valid notice of lien must be resolved through a foreclosure trial. The lien notices properly sought reimbursement of expenses including hotel expenses, administration costs, and relocation costs. 

Rivera v. HPD: 29 N.Y.3d 45, 2017 N.Y. Slip Op. 02587 (Ct. App. NY; 4/4/17; Garcia, J, DiFiore, CJ, Rivera, Abdus-Salaam, Stein, Fahey, Wilson, JJ)