Landlord's Court Papers Didn't Explain Why Tenant Was Unregulated

Landlord sued to evict unregulated tenant after tenant's lease expired. The court granted tenant's request to dismiss the case. Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord's court papers contained fundamental omissions. Landlord's petition claimed that the apartment was located in a building with fewer than six apartments in which there was a vacancy after July 1, 1971. But, since tenant moved into the unit in 1988, landlord treated the apartment as rent stabilized. The apartment was registered with the DHCR every year except two between 1984 and 2004. Landlord also gave tenant a rent-stabilized renewal lease in 2011 and, in a 2012 nonpayment proceeding, claimed that tenant was rent stabilized. Since landlord's petition failed to state why the apartment had been treated as rent stabilized for decades and facts explaining why tenant's lease was now being considered by landlord for the first time as unregulated, the papers didn't satisfy the requirements of Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law Section 741 to state the interest of the tenant and the facts upon which the proceeding was based.

Migliaccio v. Childs: 65 Misc.3d 131(A), 2019 NY Slip Op 51575(U) (App. T. 2 Dept.; 10/4/19; Pesce, PJ, Weston, Siegal, JJ)