Anjo Restaurant Corp. v. Sunrise Hotel Corp

In Anjo Restaurant Corp. v. Sunrise Hotel Corp., 98 Misc. 2d 597, 414 N.Y.S. 2d 265 (1979), a lessee transferred all of its right, title and interest in its lease to an assignee-purchaser of its restaurant business. The facts of this case are startlingly similar to the present action. A restaurant was sold for a cash down payment and promissory notes with a security agreement providing for a reassignment of the lease to the seller, allegedly thereby entitling the seller-assignee to reclaim possession of the premises, on the default of any provision of the promissory note. The court held that in parting with the lease the lessee-assignor divested itself of privity of estate, although it retained privity of contract, and therefore was not entitled to recover possession of the premises nor maintain a summary proceeding for such relief.