Firm News
Court Grants Summary Judgment Against Commercial Tenant for $2.2 Million and Rejects Tenant’s Defense that it Surrendered and Terminated the Lease
KMWB’s Catherine Helwig successfully cross-moved for summary judgment on a tenant’s breach of a commercial lease and the Hon. Nancy Bannon awarded the landlord damages in the sum of $2.2 million dollars based on a rent acceleration clause in the lease. The Judge...
Commercial Lease Personal Guaranty Enforced
Nicholas Yokos and Craig Gambardella represented a Landlord in a plenary action in Supreme Court, Kings County to enforce a personal guaranty under a commercial lease, moving for summary judgment in lieu of complaint. In opposition to the Landlord’s motion, the...
New York Judge Issues Bewildering Directive
Last Thursday, Judge Lawrence Marks issued a memo laying out the steps for filing new evictions electronically or by mail. Unfortunately, the system is not yet operational. The memo states that Gov. Andrew Cuomo's previous blanket eviction moratorium would remain in...
Expect Slow Start and Continued Confusion for New Eviction Cases
The Courts begin accepting new eviction cases on June 22, but don't expect to cross the finish line any time soon. While attorneys will be able to file cases for the first time since March, they are limited to in-person filings with only five people at the clerks'...
Pre-Pandemic Evictions Facing More Delays
Last week, the NYC Bureau of Marshals issued guidance for the re-service of thousands of eviction notices issued before March 16. These pending evictions are now "stale"; more than 30 days have passed since the earliest eviction date on the notice. The new guidance...
Guidance Issued for Upcoming Eviction Cases
New York Civil Court Administrative Judge Anthony Cannataro issued three notices on Friday regarding Gov. Cuomo's latest executive order. The order prohibits nonpayment evictions against "someone that is eligible for unemployment insurance or benefits" or a...
Can NYC Landlords File New Evictions after the New Executive Order?
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's latest executive order opens the doors for new commercial evictions to be filed, with some limitations. Tenants eligible for government unemployment assistance, those who are facing financial hardship due to the pandemic and are being evicted for...
Pending Eviction Cases are Going Virtual
This week, the New York City Housing Court began taking up qualifying cases in virtual settlement conferences. According to Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks, eligible cases must have commenced before the pandemic, and both parties must have counsel. While...
Gov. Cuomo’s New Executive Order: What’s the Catch?
Governor Cuomo rolled out an extension last week on the state's moratorium on convictions through August. In a surprising change from the earlier ban, the new order only applies to tenants unable to pay rent due to COVID-19 or who qualify for unemployment. Speaking to...