Case Type

Non-payment

Housing Type

Rent Stabilized

Court

SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE TERM, SECOND DEPARTMENT

County

Kings County (Brooklyn)

L&T / Index / Case / Docket / Clerk's Number

2024-176 K C

Slip Opinion Number

2025 NY Slip Op 51143(U)

Petitioner

Beverly Holdings N.Y., LLC

Respondent

Tamara Blackwood

Judge

Toussaint, Wavny; Buggs, Chereé, A.; Ottley, Lisa, S.

Decision/Order Date

2025-06-06

Posture

Other

Disposition

Motion Granted for Tenant

Winner

Tenant Substantially Won

Synopsis

In this nonpayment proceeding, the court affirmed the dismissal of the petition, granting the tenant's motion for summary judgment. The tenant successfully used Multiple Dwelling Law § 302-a as an affirmative defense, proving that the landlord failed to correct rent-impairing violations in the building's public areas for over six months. The court rejected the landlord's argument of lack of access, as the violations were not within the tenant's apartment. It also dismissed the landlord's claim that the tenant failed to certify the uncorrected violations, noting that the landlord's own failure to file a certification of compliance established a prima facie case.

Keywords

Rent Impairing Violations; MDL § 302-a(3)(c); 100% Rent Abatement; Lack of Access not a Defense Where Violations are in Public Spaces

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