New Hearing Required to Appoint 7-A Administrator

HPD bought a building in foreclosure, which was being run by a 7-A administrator. HPD asked the court to let it run the building under its central management program instead. Tenants asked the court to reappoint the 7-A administrator. The trial court ruled for HPD, and tenants appealed. The appeals court sent the case back to the trial court for a hearing to determine whether conditions in the building needed the administrator's continued management. The trial court ordered a subsequent hearing to determine if drug activity in city-owned buildings in the neighborhood threatened tenants in the building. HPD appealed. The appeals court sent the case back for another hearing. The lower court should only have considered whether there were conditions dangerous to life, health, or safety within the building itself not in the neighborhood. It wasn't authorized to look into neighborhood-wide drug activity nor to evaluate HPD's performance as a manager of other neighboring buildings. So a new hearing is needed to decide whether conditions in the building warrant the reappointment of the 7-A administrator.

HPD v. Chevalier: NYLJ, p. 28, col. 6 (1/11/95) (App. T. 1 Dept.; Parness, JP, Miller, Glen, JJ)