720 Riverside Owners Corp. v. Bowen, 2024 NY Slip Op 24052 (2024)

Citation: 720 Riverside Owners Corp. v. Bowen, 2024 NY Slip Op 24052 (2024)
Parent Document: 720 Riverside Owners Corp. v. Bowen, 2024 NY Slip Op 24052 (2024)
Jurisdiction: New York (state)
Effective Date: 2024-02-22
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/9477736/720-riverside-owners-corp-v-bowen/ ↗

Full Text

1,504 chars

Tenants' contention that the failure to provide the rider bars any rent increase until the rider is given and the owner can establish that the rent is otherwise legal would render meaningless the words "unless the owner can establish that the rent collected was otherwise legal," contained in RSC § 2522.5(c)(3). "It is an accepted rule that all parts of a statute are intended to be given effect and that a statutory construction [that] renders one part meaningless should be avoided" (Rocovich v Consolidated Edison Co., 78 NY2d 509, 515 [1991]; see also McKinney's Cons Laws of NY, Book 1, Statutes § 98). "The word unless has the force of except; its primary meaning is 'unloosened from,' so what follows in the sentence after the word unless is excepted or unloosened from what went before it" (Manning v Keenan, 73 NY 45, 56 [1878]). Thus, when the Code provided that if the rider was not furnished, the vacancy or renewal lease rent may not be charged "unless the owner can establish that the rent collected was otherwise legal," it was the drafter's intent that the vacancy or renewal lease rent may be collected if it is shown to be legal (see Schieffelin v Hylan, 236 NY 254, 261 [1923]). This plain reading of the Code is further supported by the above-referenced regulatory history, specifically, DHCR's notice stating that "there can be no rent increase until the rider/documentation is provided unless the owner can prove the rent charged is otherwise legal" (2014 NY REG Text 323579 [NS]).

Other Sections in This Document (41)

Full Text