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Melendez v. City of New York

Melendez v. City of New York

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

November 25, 2020, Decided; November 25, 2020, Filed

No. 20-CV-5301 (RA)

Opinion

 [*18]  OPINION & ORDER

RONNIE ABRAMS, United States District Judge:

In the spring of this year, the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged New York, hitting the state harder than nearly anywhere else on earth. In response, New York State enacted a slate of statutes, administrative orders, and executive orders aimed at combatting both the public health and economic devastation wrought by the disease. New York City, the epicenter of the outbreak within the state, passed multiple local ordinances of its own, aiming to achieve the same goals. Three of those ordinances are being challenged here today.

The first of these three laws is "the Residential Harassment Law," which amended a decade-old ordinance prohibiting residential landlords from harassing tenants out of their lawfully-occupied dwellings. The Residential Harassment Law added to the existing law a prohibition [**3]  on harassment of "person[s] impacted by COVID-19," a term broadly defined to include essential workers, those diagnosed with COVID, caretakers of those with COVID, and persons unemployed or with additional financial responsibilities as a direct result of the pandemic.

The second of the laws, "the Commercial Harassment Law," likewise amended a pre-existing ordinance prohibiting commercial landlords from harassing tenants out of their lawfully-occupied properties. It added a similar prohibition on harassment of those "impacted by COVID-19," a term the law broadly defined to include those diagnosed with COVID, caretakers of those with COVID, persons who could not attend work because of quarantine or child-care difficulties, and businesses closed as a direct result of the pandemic.

The third law, entitled "Personal Liability Provisions in Commercial Leases," is known as the "Guaranty Law." This law limits the ability of commercial landlords to enforce a "personal guaranty"—that is, a contractual promise by a third-party, typically the principal of the business-tenant, to pay rent, utilities, or taxes in the event that the tenant defaults on those payments. The Guaranty Law only applies when [**4]  the guarantor is a natural person other than the tenant, and only covers payments due between March 2020 and March 2021, but its effects are permanent: the landlord may never collect from the personal guarantor for those payments, even after the pandemic ends.

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503 F. Supp. 3d 13 *; 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 222774 **; 2020 WL 7705633

MELENDEZ, et al., Plaintiffs, v. THE CITY OF NEW YORK, et al., Defendants.

Subsequent History: Vacated by, in part, Reversed by, in part, Affirmed by, in part, Remanded by Melendez v. City of New York, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 32327 (2d Cir., Oct. 28, 2021)

CORE TERMS

Harassment, rent, tenant, Guaranty, Residential, landlords, pandemic, commercial tenant, small business, courts, executive order, Plaintiffs', preempted, local law, state law, impacted, routine, Rights, impairment, contracts, demands, properties, emergency, ordinance, eviction, notices, personal guaranty, pay rent, contractual, regulations

Civil Procedure, Defenses, Demurrers & Objections, Motions to Dismiss, Failure to State Claim, Evidence, Judicial Notice, Adjudicative Facts, Public Records, Business & Corporate Compliance, Real Property Law, Zoning, Building & Housing Codes, Labor & Employment Law, Disability Benefits, Evidence, Burdens of Proof, Remedies, Damages, Punitive Damages, Civil Rights Law, Fair Housing Rights, Protected Classes, National Origin Discrimination, Discrimination, Disparate Treatment, Family Status Discrimination, Torts, Liabilities of Lessors, Negligence, Criminal Acts, Governments, Local Governments, Ordinances & Regulations, Real Property Law, Landlord & Tenant, Lease Agreements, Commercial Leases, Landlord's Remedies & Rights, Eviction Actions, Self Help Remedies, Residential Leases, Courts, Authority to Adjudicate, State & Territorial Governments, Claims By & Against, Legislation, Interpretation, Rent Recovery, Rent Regulation, Methods, Constitutional Law, Fundamental Freedoms, Judicial & Legislative Restraints, Overbreadth & Vagueness of Legislation, Vagueness, Fundamental Rights, Procedural Due Process, Scope of Protection, Substantive Due Process, Scope, Burdens of Proof, Allocation, Congressional Duties & Powers, Contracts Clause, Application & Interpretation, Police Powers, Contracts Law, Standards of Performance, Substantial Performance, Types of Contracts, Guaranty Contracts, Injunctions, Grounds for Injunctions, Public Interest, Legislatures, Commercial Leases, Long Term Commercial Leases, Effect & Operation, Relations With Governments