Lease Rider Properly Notified Tenant of J-51 Status Expiration

Landlord sued to evict tenant and claimed that tenant was exempt from rent stabilization. Tenant claimed that the apartment was rent stabilized because the building received J-51 tax benefits, and asked the court to dismiss the case. The court ruled for tenant. Landlord appealed and got the case reopened. Tenant's lease riders stated that the apartment would be deregulated when the building's J-51 benefits expired. The notice in tenant's July 2009 lease rider wasn't made invalid by any minor misstatement as to the approximate date on which the J-51 benefits expired or by the fact that landlord included a statement in the rider that landlord had a good-faith belief that the apartment was otherwise exempt from rent stabilization, but that it depended on the outcome of the then-pending case of Roberts v. Tishman Speyer. Landlord's lease rider couldn't reasonably be expected to provide greater clarity on the question of rent-stabilization coverage, since the law was unsettled at the time the lease rider was issued.

Mayflower Development Corp. v. Kaufman: NYLJ, 7/6/12, p. 24, col. 2 (App. T. 1 Dept.; Lowe III, PJ, Shulman, Hunter Jr., JJ)