Opinion ID: 387371
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Substantive Framework

Text: 66 At the outset, a brief overview of the substance of plaintiffs' claim is necessary in order to assess the materiality of the facts that plaintiffs contend are in dispute. The question of eviction from a rent controlled building is not a dispute between the tenant and a governmental agency; it is a dispute between private persons, with a governmental agency as the arbiter. The rights of a tenant to prevent eviction are given by the rent control statute, and those rights exist only to the extent that they are so given. Cf. Kovarsky v. H.D.A., 31 N.Y.2d 184, 335 N.Y.S.2d 383, 286 N.E.2d 882 (1972). To the extent that the rights are given, the tenants cannot, consistently with principles of due process, be deprived of them without the opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner. Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 333, 96 S.Ct. 893, 902, 47 L.Ed.2d 18 (1976), quoting from Armstrong v. Manzo, 380 U.S. 545, 552, 85 S.Ct. 1187, 1191, 14 L.Ed.2d 62 (1965); Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division v. Craft, 436 U.S. 1, 11-12, 98 S.Ct. 1554, 1561-1562, 56 L.Ed.2d 30 (1978); Arnett v. Kennedy, 416 U.S. 134, 166-67, 94 S.Ct. 1633, 1650-1651, 40 L.Ed.2d 15 (1974) (Powell, J., concurring); id. at 177-78, 185, 94 S.Ct. at 1655-1658, 1659 (White, J. concurring and dissenting); id. at 211, 94 S.Ct. 1672 (Marshall, J., dissenting). Plaintiffs contend that due process entitles them to a trial-type hearing with all its common appurtenances. The Commissioner appears to concede that the tenants are entitled to some opportunity to be heard, but contends that the tenants' right to due process are satisfied by the conference procedures. 67 Without attempting to decide at this point precisely what kind of opportunity due process requires, it must be recognized that the portion of the statute here in question allows an eviction principally when the landlord in good faith seeks to recover the apartment for his own personal use and occupancy, or for the use and occupancy of his immediate family because of immediate and compelling necessity. Thus the statute conditions the right of the landlord to evict not on the circumstances of the tenant, but on the good faith intentions of the landlord. 5 Since good faith is a central issue, and often will require an assessment of a landlord's credibility, 6 a decision on the basis of a paper record would seem to be a particularly inappropriate way to decide whether or not a certificate should issue. 7 Califano v. Yamasaki, 442 U.S. 682, 696-97, 99 S.Ct. 2545, 2555-2556, 61 L.Ed.2d 176 (1979). I believe the court is required to assess whether the conference and/or hearing procedures provide rent control tenants with a meaningful opportunity to test the landlord's credibility in order to contest the issue of his good faith.