Landlord's Nonrenewal Notice Didn't State Sufficient Facts

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant, claiming that he needed the apartment for his own personal use as a primary residence in New York City. Tenant asked the court to dismiss the case. She claimed that landlord's nonrenewal notice didn't set forth the facts needed to establish that he could recover the apartment under Rent Stabilization Code Section 2524.2(b). Landlord's notice merely tracked the language of the law. Landlord argued that his notice was sufficient and tenant could have discovered in pretrial questioning that he wanted to live in the apartment to shorten his commute to work. The court ruled for tenant and dismissed the case. Landlord appealed and lost. Tenant wouldn't necessarily be granted the chance to conduct pretrial questioning and shouldn't be left without any facts to support landlord's claim until trial.

Hirsch v. Stewart: NYLJ, 4/29/09, p. 26, col. 1 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Mazzarelli, JP, Saxe, Friedman, Acosta, DeGrasse, JJ)