Provisional Approval of ERAP Application Vacates Stay of Eviction Proceeding

Landlord sued to evict apartment occupants after rent-stabilized tenant died. The occupants claimed succession rights and filed a Hardship Declaration, which stayed the case until Jan. 15, 2022. The case was then off calendar for pre-trial questioning. Meanwhile, it was discovered that one of the occupants had filed an ERAP application, which automatically stayed the case, and that the occupant received a provisional approval for ERAP in November 2021. Occupant's attorney claimed that this stayed the case for at least 12 months. But landlord then asked the court to impose sanctions on occupant's attorney for making a futile attempt to delay litigation of the central issues of the case, and to vacate the ERAP stay.

The court ruled for landlord in part, vacating the ERAP stay but denying any sanctions against tenant's attorney. Occupant received a "provisional" approval because eligibility for ERAP had been determined but payment hadn't been sent because landlord refused to accept it. Either way, the court found that the effect of OTDA's provisional approval was to dissolve the ERAP stay. Tenant's attorney argued that the provisional approval protected the approved applicant from eviction in a holdover proceeding for one year from the date of such approval. OTDA's website also indicated that this was how OTDA interpreted the law. But the court disagreed. Landlord, at most, would be deemed to have waived rent due by refusing to accept ERAP funds.

Park Tower S. Co. LLC v. Simons: Index No. 302220/2020, 2022 NY Slip Op 22192 (Civ. Ct. NY; 6/21/22; Bacdayan, J)