Tenant Filed Improper Claims Against Landlord in Federal Court

Tenant sued landlord, the ground-floor commercial tenant, and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in federal court. Tenant claimed that the floor of his second-floor apartment was damaged and his mail stolen when landlord opened a hole in the ceiling of the Dunkin Donuts store below his apartment, used heavy drilling machines, flooded his apartment with a strange-smelling liquid that damaged his files, and ruined the wooden floor. HPD issued a violation against landlord based on the damaged floor. Landlord repaired the floor within a few months, and HPD vacated the violation by September 2022. Tenant claimed that landlord flooded the apartment a second time and ruined the new floor.

The court dismissed tenant's claims against the DOJ based on sovereign immunity. Tenant's claims that landlord violated his civil rights under the U.S. Constitution must allege facts showing that landlord acted under the color of a state statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage. Private parties generally are not liable under the statute since the Constitution regulates only the government, not private parties. So tenant hadn't stated a claim against landlord or Dunkin. The court dismissed tenant's complaint without giving him a chance to amend the complaint, since its defects couldn't be cured. The court cautioned tenant against filing repetitive or frivolous litigation that could result in an order barring tenant from filing any new actions in federal court.

Torres v. Blackstone Grp.: Index No. 23-CV-0123, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8070, 2023 WL 208173 (SDNY; 1/13/23;Swain, J)