Gregg Kurlander Appears in the New York Law Journal

Gregg Kurlander, of counsel at Kucker Marino Winiarsky & Bittens, recently appeared in the front page article of the New York Law Journal on June 5^th, 2014. Gregg represents Windsor Plaza, LLC, the landlord in the case Windsor Plaza v. De Pinies. The tenant in the case, Pablo de Pinies, paid under $2,200 a month for his apartment, until Windsor Plaza, LLC, informed him that it would not renew his lease on October 1^st, 2013. Gregg and Windsor Plaza filed a holdover proceeding to evict, declaring that the tenant had a primary residence in New Jersey and had illegally sublet his Manhattan apartment. De Pinies claimed that he had only left his apartment temporarily, and for medical reasons. Windsor Plaza moved for discovery, pending approval from the court, seeking an independent medical examination, as well as records which could help ascertain the tenant’s primary residence. De Pinies’ response was that a medical examination would be invasive. Judge Gonzales agreed with the landlord, writing that Windsor Plaza’s request for information was “proper, carefully tailored and directly related to the central issue in this proceeding.” Because de Pinies had raised the issue of his medical condition, Windsor Plaza was entitled to an independent examination. Gregg spoke favorably of the judge’s decision, stating that the tenant was attempting to use his medical condition as both “a sword and a shield,” and expressing “you can’t have it both ways.” This case is of interest because only a handful of Housing Court decisions deal with the possibility of a landlord conducting an independent medical examination, and even fewer grant permission.