Nunez v. Giuliani
| Decision Date | 26 March 1998 |
| Citation | 91 N.Y.2d 935,693 N.E.2d 746,670 N.Y.S.2d 399 |
| Parties | , 693 N.E.2d 746, 1998 N.Y. Slip Op. 2858 Cristina NUNEZ, et al., Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, Appellants, v. Rudolph W. GIULIANI, as Mayor of the City of New York, et al., Respondents. |
| Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed, without costs.
This appeal involves the interpretation of the term "eligibility date" contained in New York City's Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption program (Administrative Code of City of N.Y. § 26-509[b][3][i][a] ). The New York City Department for the Aging applied the provision narrowly and denied special retroactive benefits to petitioners and their class of similarly situated tenants.
Supreme Court disagreed with the Department for the Aging's interpretation and granted plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment on their first three causes of action. The Appellate Division modified the order by denying plaintiffs' motion and granting defendants' cross motion to dismiss the complaint in its entirety. It concluded that the agency's interpretation was rational and this Court granted plaintiffs leave to appeal.
Real Property Tax Law § 467-b authorizes New York City to allow eligible low-income senior citizens, who live in rent-stabilized housing, a specified calculated exemption from rent increases. Pursuant to the statute, the City enacted the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) program (see, Administrative Code § 26-509).
Under the program, a landlord may charge eligible tenants only "one-third of the aggregate disposable income" of the household, or the "rent in effect immediately preceding the eligibility date, whichever is greater" (Administrative Code § 26-509[b][3][i][a] [emphasis added] ). Qualifications for this SCRIE exemption include: (1) the head of household must be at least 62 years of age and entitled to possession of the residence, (2) annual income must be below a specified level, and (3) the maximum rent for the residence must exceed one-third of the household's aggregate disposable income, where the applicant is not receiving a monthly shelter allowance pursuant to the Social Services Law (Administrative Code § 26-509[b][2] ). Qualifying tenants receive an exemption order from the Department for the Aging, which becomes effective the first day of the first month after receipt of the tenant's application (Administrative Code § 26-509[b][2]-[5] ). When an exemption is granted, a landlord receives a property tax credit to offset the loss of rental income.
As noted, this dispute, essentially between a class of putatively qualifying tenants...
To continue reading
Request your trial
- N.Y. State Dep't of Corr. & Cmty. v. N.Y. State Div. of Human Rights
-
Quinatoa v. Hewlett Assocs.
...the benefit. For the purpose of this law, the eligibility date is the date a qualified tenant applies for SCRIE (see Nunez v Giuliani, 91 N.Y.2d 935 [1998]). Because of the misrepresentations, the complaint states, senior citizens who lived in Trafalgar did not apply for SCRIE when they fir......
- People v. Washington
-
Gentile v. City of Ny Dept. for Aging, 1
... ... A SCRIE applicant who meets the eligibility criteria set forth in Administrative Code of the City of New York § 26-509[b][2] (see also, Nunez v Giuliani, 239 A.D.2d 163, 163-164, affd 91 N.Y.2d 935), is entitled to an order of ... ...