Out-of-State Tenant Can't Be Subpoenaed

Landlord sued to evict apartment occupant after tenant moved out of the apartment. Occupant claimed pass-on rights to the apartment. Landlord asked for permission to conduct pretrial questioning of tenant and subpoenaed tenant to produce the documents. The court ruled that landlord couldn't subpoena tenant and couldn't force tenant to appear for pretrial questioning. Landlord appealed and lost. Tenant lived in Puerto Rico. The court had no authority to make him appear for pretrial questioning and couldn't enforce the subpoena outside New York. However, the appeals court noted that tenant probably had information relevant to questions concerning occupant's connection to the apartment. So, if tenant didn't appear for pretrial questioning, occupant couldn't call him as a witness at trial.

Georgia Properties, Inc. v. Woods: NYLJ, 2/6/06, p. 32, col. 1 (App. T. 1 Dept.; McCooe, JP, Davis, Gangel-Jacob, JJ)