40 W. 67th St. v. Pullman

In 40 W. 67th St. v. Pullman (100 N.Y.2d 147 [2003], plaintiff cooperative owned a building containing 38 apartments. Pullman bought into the cooperative and acquired the proprietary lease for his apartment. (Id. at 150.) Soon after moving in, Pullman began complaining about his upstairs neighbors and distributed flyers--some referring to his neighbor as a potential "psychopath," others describing the neighbor's wife and the board president's wife as having "intimate personal relations" with each other. (Id. at 151.) Pullman repeatedly called the police, began various lawsuits against other neighbors and board members, and illegally altered his apartment. (Id. at 150-151.) In response to this behavior, the cooperative called a meeting under article III (First) (f) of their lease agreement. (Id. at 151.) The board sent timely notice of the meeting to all shareholders, including Pullman. (Id. at 152.) Pullman did not attend the shareholder meeting, but owners of more than 75% of the outstanding shares of the cooperative--a supermajority--were present. By a unanimous vote, they passed a resolution declaring Pullman's conduct "objectionable" and directing the board to terminate his proprietary lease and cancel his shares. (Id.) Pullman remained in the apartment, and the cooperative brought an action in Supreme Court for possession and ejectment and a declaratory judgment to cancel his shares. Supreme Court denied the cooperative's summary judgment motion and dismissed the first claim of the complaint, which sought ejection and possession solely on the shareholder's vote and termination notice. (See 100 N.Y.2d at 152.) The court relied on RPAPL 711 (1), which provides that a proceeding to recover possession under a lease provision entitling landlord to terminate for objectionable conduct "shall not be maintainable unless the landlord shall by competent evidence establish to the satisfaction of the court that the tenant is objectionable." (Id.) Supreme Court determined that the cooperative had not presented competent evidence to the court of Pullman's objectionable conduct.