Case Notes in
Nuisance
Category
- Access
- Alterations
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- Negligence
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- Nuisance
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- Parking
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- Proprietary Lease
- Reasonableness
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- Third-Party Liability
- Transfers
- Trespassing
- Trial Practice
- Violations
- Warranty of Habitability
- Yellowstone Injunction
- Zoning
First published: May 2025
You Can’t “Slapp” Them DownTAKEAWAY Most co-op and condo boards, management companies, and board attorneys are familiar with shareholders or unit owners who incessantly complain about everything to do with how the co-op or condo is being operated. Sometimes those complaints have merit; often, however, the complaints lack foundation or any sense of proportionality. In this case, it is clear that the sponsor and condo board believed that the couple (and especially the husband) had crossed the line from legitimate, fair, and productive criticism to toxic, antisocial, and indefensible behavior. However, what the plaintiffs failed to recognize in time is that in New York, when individuals criticize management about matters of public interest (a broad concept that encompasses co-op and condo affairs), litigation should not be used as a tool to silence those voices unless very stringent pleading and evidentiary requirements can be met from the outset.
Read full articleFirst published: May 2024
Dog DNAA co-op board failed to establish that a dog was a nuisance and that its breed restriction was relevant, as the dog did not behave in a dangerous or threatening manner and the board did not commence an action within the statutory three-month period.
Read full articleFirst published: Sep 2023
Neighbor Against NeighborTAKEAWAY Noise disputes are such a common occurrence, but in this case the cooperative should consider itself lucky that it was not named in the suit. It issued a notice of termination against a shareholder who was subject to abuse, while apparently taking no action against the neighbor who the court found was engaging in uncivilized behavior and who might have held sway because of a personal relationship with an officer of the cooperative. Laying that aside, shareholders should be aware that they could be subject to nuisance and emotional distress claims when they engage in uncivil and inappropriate conduct against a neighbor. A month doesn’t go by in our practice without hearing a complaint that shareholders are being abusive to each other; the court may well have laid a pathway for an affected shareholder to properly deal with it.
Read full articleFirst published: Aug 2023
Dope, Dogs, and NoiseTAKEAWAY We strongly recommend that when seeking injunctive relief (or contempt) against an owner, you must be prepared to present live witnesses at any court hearing, especially if you expect opposition. Written affidavits cannot be cross-examined by a defendant. The court is unlikely to grant relief based solely on affidavit evidence unless the defendant fails to appear at all.
Read full articleFirst published: May 2023
Four-legged Identity CrisisIt is important that boards respond promptly to complaints from unit owners to prevent nuisance situations from spiraling out of control and to avoid being sued by unit owners for failure to enforce the rules. In this case, the board quickly mustered a barrage of complaints from unit owners and neighbors from the adjacent building, including photos and videos documenting the offending conduct. But without seeking a temporary restraining order at the outset, the offending conduct was allowed to carry on from June 2022 until the issuance of the preliminary injunction in March 2023. Moreover, the court did not order that Ms. Lambert remove any dogs from her unit. Because the parties will now proceed to litigate the validity of Ms. Lambert’s discrimination claims, the dogs may remain in place for a long time before their final status is resolved. But if the board ultimately prevails on its claims that Ms. Lambert has violated the by-laws and house rules, it may be entitled to recover its reasonable attorneys’ fees from Ms. Lambert. Unit owners who own noisy or vicious pets often argue that they are service animals or emotional support animals, and boards will typically need to consult with counsel to ascertain whether the applicable requirements have been met to avoid running afoul of anti-discrimination law.
Read full articleFirst published: Apr 2023
Turn Down That Noise!Noise complaints in New York City are common, yet not easy to win. Often the line is subjective, and courts are sensitive to the notion that Big City life is not country life. But here, the plaintiff backed up her claim with objective proof that the noise at issue was particularly bad, and exceeded the Noise Code. Armed with evidence that this was not the usual noise generated in a large, complicated, and heavily populated metropolis, she prevailed and got an injunction. No small feat, and the case is worth examining to see what distinguishes a winning hand from a losing hand.
Read full articleFirst published: Feb 2023
The Unbearable Sound of NoiseThere are at least two important points to make about this unusual decision. First, the courts recognize the inherent noisiness of living in New York City and are not inclined to find a public nuisance just because the children in the apartment upstairs run around a lot. Second, condominium boards have broad powers and discretion when it comes to enforcing its own rules, but a board that effectively abdicates its enforcement responsibilities may not be protected from legal consequences. Taking the two lessons together, while it is reasonable for condominium boards to treat noise complaints skeptically as a general rule, they still need to take them seriously enough to show that the complaints were investigated.
Read full articleFirst published: Mar 2022
Bad BehaviorSometimes the animosity that grows between neighbors takes on a life of its own, and if not nipped in the bud drives them to self-destructive behavior. Where the parties could not act rationally to realize their interests, the judge had to step in and be the grownup, if for no other reason, to prevent abuse of the court’s resources.
Read full articleFirst published: Jun 2021
Dubin v. GlasserThe standard New York cooperative proprietary lease does not expressly state that a tenant-shareholder is a third-party beneficiary of another tenant-shareholder’s lease with the cooperative corporation. Therefore, if a board fails to take action against a shareholder for violation of the proprietary lease or house rules, another shareholder cannot independently bring his or her own action against a shareholder. In addition, the standard lease has a provision that states the co-op is not responsible to the lessee for the non-observance of the lease or house rules. Thus, to remedy a bad situation, the shareholder in a cooperative is dependent on the board to enforce the lease provisions and house rules. If the board refuses, based on the Ran v. Weiner decision, there is nothing for the injured shareholder to do. (Interestingly, the Condominium Act would allow an aggrieved condo unit-owner to bring an action if the condo board does not, but there is no such parallel provision in any laws applicable to cooperatives.) But perhaps the door has opened slightly by the decision in Dubin v. Glasser. Perhaps common practice in cooperatives will change. Stay tuned, as we may not have heard the last of this from the courts. A shareholder may indeed have the right to enforce the lease or house rules when the board refuses.
Read full articleFirst published: Jun 2021
Dubin v. GlasserThe standard New York cooperative proprietary lease does not expressly state that a tenant-shareholder is a third-party beneficiary of another tenant-shareholder’s lease with the cooperative corporation. Therefore, if a board fails to take action against a shareholder for violation of the proprietary lease or house rules, another shareholder cannot independently bring his or her own action against a shareholder. In addition, the standard lease has a provision that states the co-op is not responsible to the lessee for the non-observance of the lease or house rules. Thus, to remedy a bad situation, the shareholder in a cooperative is dependent on the board to enforce the lease provisions and house rules. If the board refuses, based on the Ran v. Weiner decision, there is nothing for the injured shareholder to do. (Interestingly, the Condominium Act would allow an aggrieved condo unit-owner to bring an action if the condo board does not, but there is no such parallel provision in any laws applicable to cooperatives.) But perhaps the door has opened slightly by the decision in Dubin v. Glasser. Perhaps common practice in cooperatives will change. Stay tuned, as we may not have heard the last of this from the courts. A shareholder may indeed have the right to enforce the lease or house rules when the board refuses.
Read full article