Haber v. ASN 50th St. LLC

• Decision Date: 07 March 2012
• Docket Number: No. 10 Civ. 3536(VM).,10 Civ. 3536(VM).
• Citation: 847 F.Supp.2d 578
• Parties: David Martin HABER, Plaintiff, v. ASN 50TH ST. LLC, et al., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

847 F.Supp.2d 578

David Martin HABER, Plaintiff,

v.ASN 50TH ST. LLC, et al., Defendant.

No. 10 Civ. 3536(VM).

United States District Court,

S.D. New York.

March 7, 2012.

David Martin Haber, New York, NY, pro se.

Craig Robert Benson, Alex Ali Ayazi, Littler Mendelson, P.C., New York, NY, for Defendants.

DECISION AND ORDER

VICTOR MARRERO, District Judge.

Pro se plaintiff David Martin Haber (“Haber”), a tenant of 250 West 50th Street, New York, New York (the “Building”) brought this action against his landlord ASN 50th Street LLC (“ASN”), and ASN employees Linda Early (“Early”) and Mark Haller (“Haller”) (collectively, “Defendants”), alleging that Defendants discriminated against him on the basis of his race. Defendants now move for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 (“Rule 56”). For the reasons below, Defendants' motion is GRANTED.

I. BACKGROUND¹

The Building is a rent-stabilized apartment complex formerly owned by Resnick Eighth Avenue Associates, LLC (“Resnick”). On November 6, 1998, Haber, an African American, signed a lease agreement (the “Lease”) with Resnick to become a tenant of the Building. On January 4, 2006, ASN purchased the Building from Resnick and became Haber's new landlord. Haber has renewed the Lease every two years since the initial agreement, including renewals every year with ASN.

The Building participates in an initiative known as the 80/20 Program, sponsored by the New York State Housing Finance Agency, the New York City Housing Development Corporation, and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. The 80/20 Program provides affordable housing options for low-income tenants in generally desirable residential areas. Any apartment building in the 80/20 Program must reserve 20% of its units for “low-income residents.” Low-income residents are defined as those earning no more than 50% of area median income in the relevant geographical area. Buildings in the 80/20 Program must charge rent to these low-income residents at a specified affordable rate.

Haber is a low-income resident who pays a reduced rent under the 80/20 Program. The United States Department of Veterans Affairs further subsidizes 70% of Haber's rent in the form of Section 8 vouchers, distributed by New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (“DHCR”) directly to ASN. Haber is responsible, each month, to pay the remainder of his rent to ASN.

Under the terms of the Lease, rent must be paid in advance by the beginning of each month. If a tenant defaults on his rent payment. New York state law allows his landlord to file “Petitions of Non–Payment” in New York State Housing Court (“Housing Court”) to repossess property held by that tenant. N.Y. Real. Prop. Acts. Law § 711(2). However, the landlord must first either make a personal demand for rent, or serve a written “Rent Demand” giving the tenant at least three days to satisfy his or her rent obligations. Id. The Rent Demand and the Petition of Non–Payment (with its attendant notice) should be personally served on the tenant. Id. at § 735(1). However, the landlord may have copies affixed upon a “conspicuous part of the property sought to be recovered ... if the process server cannot obtain admittance and find a person to receive the process.” Id. ASN's policy is to send an informal letter, on the fifth day of each month, to delinquent tenants informing them that they are in arrears, and as a consequence will be assessed a late fee. If, by the tenth day, the tenant is still in arrears for more than $2000, or has a “history of failing to pay rent,” ASN's outside counsel will serve a Rent Demand and eventually file a Petition of Non–Payment. (Haller Dec. ¶ 21–24.)

From 2007 to 2010, ASN and Haber fought a series of legal battles arising from Haber's repeated failure to pay his rent. The first dispute arose after Haber failed to pay his portion of the rent from May 2007 through January 2008. On November 19, 2007, after unsuccessfully attempting to personally serve Haber, ASN had a Rent Demand affixed on Haber's door. On November 27, 2007 Haber filed a civil action in New York State Supreme Court against ASN alleging that ASN fraudulently claimed to DCHR that he owed ASN $1,904 in back rent, and that ASN was using the Building as a hotel in violation of its certificate of occupancy. On January 7, 2008, ASN filed a Petition of Non–Payment with the Housing Court. However, by March 20, 2008, Haber and ASN reached a stipulation of settlement, in which Haber agreed to pay $831 by April 20, 2008.

The second dispute arose after Haber failed to pay his portion of the rent from April 2008 through December 2008. On October 31, 2008, after a failed attempt to personally serve Haber four days earlier, ASN again had a Rent Demand affixed to Haber's door. On December 8, 2008, after failing to receive any payment from Haber, ASN filed a Petition of Non–Payment at Housing Court. In response, Haber filed a counterclaim alleging “harassment and violation of certificate of occupancy.” (Ayazi Dec. Ex. S.) However, by March 20, 2008, Haber and ASN reached another stipulation of settlement, where Haber promised to pay ASN $2,616.01 in back rent by March 2, 2009.

The third dispute arose out of Haber's failure to pay his portion of the rent beginning in February 2010. Haber started to withhold his rent at that time because he was unhappy with ASN's billing practices—specifically, he believed ASN was not getting his “bills straight.” ( See Ayazi Dec. Ex. A at 66.) On February 23, 2010, ASN sent an email to Haber informing him that he was delinquent on his February rent payment. Haber replied that the statement was incorrect because he had already paid rent, and that he would “put a stop on [ASN] electronically-drawing funds” from his bank account. ( See Ayazi Dec. Ex. U; Pl. Aff. Ex. C.) On March 22, 2010, ASN had Haber personally served with a Rent Demand, signed by Haller, warning Haber that he had until March 29, 2010 to pay ASN $968.38 in back rent and other fees for February and March 2010. On April 13, 2010, after failing to receive any payments from Haber, ASN filed another Petition of Non–Payment (the “2010 Petition”) in Housing Court, alleging that Haber owed $1,285.05.

On April 18, 2010, Haber filed the instant complaint in this Court against ASN, Early, and Haller. On or about August 2010, ASN allowed a contractor to put casing around the walls in Haber's apartment. However, Haber never gave ASN or the contractor permission to enter his apartment, so on October 15, 2010, he filed an amended complaint, which added allegations related to the contractor's trespass.

The amended complaint alleges that Defendants ² committed racially-motivated harassment, beginning on March 10, 2009, by filing a frivolous Petition of Nonpayment in 2010 and by allowing the contractor to enter Haber's apartment without Haber's consent. The complaint also alleges that Defendants Haller and Early conspired with ASN to “trump up charges” that Haber failed to pay his rent, affix Rent Demands on his door, “falsif[y] documents [and] statements to try and evict” him, and file a “false claim” in Housing Court, all on account of Haber's race. ( See Amended Complaint, filed October 15, 2010 (Docket No. 16), at 6 (“Am.Compl.”))

II. DISCUSSION

A. STANDARD OF REVIEW

To prevail on a motion for summary judgment, “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, [must] show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). The movant bears the burden to demonstrate that there is no genuine issue of material fact. F.D.I.C. v. Great Am. Ins. Co., 607 F.3d 288, 292 (2d Cir.2010) ( citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)). When the moving party has met this initial burden, the opposing party must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial, and cannot rest on mere allegations or denials of the facts asserted by the movant. Davis v. New York, 316 F.3d 93, 100 (2d Cir.2002) (citations omitted). The Court must “view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, and may grant summary judgment only when no reasonable trier of fact could find in favor of the non-moving party.” Allen v. Coughlin, 64 F.3d 77, 79 (2d Cir.1995) (citation omitted).

Under Second Circuit case law, “the salutary purposes of summary judgement—avoiding protracted, expensive and harassing trials—apply no less to discrimination cases than to commercial or other areas of litigation.” Gaffney v. Dep't of Info. Tech. and Telecomm., 536 F.Supp.2d 445, 455 (S.D.N.Y.2008) ( quoting Dister v. Continental Group, Inc., 859 F.2d 1108, 1114 (2d Cir.1988)).

In addition, the Court is mindful that where, as here, a party appears pro se, courts are required to broadly construe pro se pleadings and interpret them “to raise the strongest arguments that they suggest.” Graham v. Henderson, 89 F.3d 75, 79 (2d Cir.1996). The submissions of pro se litigants are to be liberally construed. See, e.g., Burgos v. Hopkins, 14 F.3d 787, 790 (2d Cir.1994). However, that Haber is “proceeding pro se does not otherwise relieve [him] from the usual requirements of summary judgment.” Fitzpatrick v. New York Cornell Hosp., No. 00 Civ. 8594, 2003 WL 102853, at *5 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 9, 2003).

B. CAUSES OF ACTION

Haber's complaint pleads only “racial discrimination” and conspiracy as the bases for this Court's jurisdiction; the complaint does not identify any specific statutes or case law upon which he makes his claims. ( See Am. Compl. at 2.) Because Haber is a pro se plaintiff, the Court liberally construes his pleadings as an intention to proceed under the Fair Housing Act (the “FHA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601–3619, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981–82, the New York...