Deemed Renewal Violates Real Property Law

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant for nonprimary residence. The court dismissed the case because landlord sent the lease nonrenewal notice more than 120 days before tenant's renewal lease expired on Nov. 30, 2008. Landlord appealed and lost, but for a different reason than cited by the trial court. Tenant's last signed two-year renewal lease ended on Nov. 30, 2007. Landlord claimed that he then deemed a one-year renewal for tenant ending on Nov. 30, 2008, because tenant didn't sign or return the further renewal lease offered in 2007. Tenant claimed that he did sign the renewal lease in 2007 and had requested a two-year renewal. The trial court believed landlord instead of tenant, finding that tenant hadn't sent back the renewal lease. However, an appeals court recently ruled that Rent Stabilization Code Section 2523.5(c)(2), which authorized deemed lease renewal, was invalid because it violated Real Property Law Section 232-c. Since there was no valid renewal lease in effect at the time landlord sent its nonrenewal notice, the notice itself was invalid.

Weiss v. Straw: NYLJ, 9/21/12, p. 30, col. 6 (App. T. 2 Dept.; Pesce, PJ, Rios, Aliotta, JJ)