Tenants Can Conduct Pretrial Questioning of Commercial Tenant

Landlord sued to evict tenants when their lease expired, claiming that they were unregulated. Landlord claimed that the building contained five apartments and that a sixth unit was commercial. Tenants asked the court for permission to conduct pretrial questioning of the commercial tenant. Landlord argued that this was just a stall tactic. The court ruled for tenants. The commercial tenant claimed that he never used any portion of the building as a residence during his tenancy. But tenants wanted to find out if he lived in a created sixth residential unit during the period in question. The court found that the commercial tenant had information relating to the use of the space and bearing on the number of residential units in the building. Questioning him was relevant, non-prejudicial, and unintrusive, and tenants demonstrated ample needed for this discovery.

IA2 Service LLC v. Quinapanta: Index No. 1202757819568, NYLJ No. 1202757819568 (Civ. Ct. Kings; 5/3/16; Stanley, J)