Court Opinion

ID: 9945522
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-27 21:09:58.819273+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:25:32.347611
License: Public Domain

Housing Rights Initiative, Inc. v Century 21 Dawns
                         Realty
               2024 NY Slip Op 30565(U)
                    February 23, 2024
           Supreme Court, New York County
        Docket Number: Index No. 156195/2021
                  Judge: W. Franc Perry
Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip
 Op 30001(U), are republished from various New York
 State and local government sources, including the New
  York State Unified Court System's eCourts Service.
 This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official
                       publication.
  FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/23/2024 12:37 PM                                                                   INDEX NO. 156195/2021
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 215                                                                                          RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/23/2024

                                   SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
                                             NEW YORK COUNTY
            PRESENT:             HON. WILLIAM F. PERRY                                           PART
                                                                                      Justice
            ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X   INDEX NO.          156195/2021
             HOUSING RIGHTS INITIATIVE, INC.,
                                                                                                 MOTION DATE         09/14/2022
                                                         Plaintiff,
                                                                                                 MOTION SEQ. NO.         006
                                                 -v-
             CENTURY 21 DAWNS REALTY, LILIANA MARQUEZ,
             KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY, DANIELLE DEMATTEO, 819
             TUCKAHOE ROAD CORP., PARK STERLING REALTY,
             THOMAS BIMONTE, 1 BRONXVILLE OWNERS CORP,
             LIBRETT REAL ESTATE GROUP, KATIA URRICO,
             EASTCHESTER ESTATES CORPORATION, EXIT REALTY
             GROUP, KORAB KRASNIQI, ISA MUSA, DRITA MUSA,
             KRESHNIK MUSA, ARA 1 REALTY GROUP LLC,AMIR
                                                                                                   DECISION + ORDER ON
             KALAIR, RAJAZMIR ASGHAR, JGERENA REAL ESTATE
             GROUP LLC,LUIS ARIAS, LUCILLE ESPOSITO REALTY                                               MOTION
             LLC,JOE PAVONE, ALL WESTCHESTER REALTY,
             INC.,MARIA MILIO, CHRISTIE REALTY, LLC,MICHAEL
             MORLEY, RNS REALTY CORP., MATHEW
             ATHIMATTAHIL, GENNARO SANTELLA, 21 PORTLAND
             PLACE LLC,ROGER GUEVARA, RAQUEL SOTO,
             SHAHIDUL HOSSAIN,

                                                         Defendant.
            ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

            The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 006) 154, 155, 156, 157,
            158, 159, 160, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 201, 207
            were read on this motion to/for                                    RENEW/REARGUE/RESETTLE/RECONSIDER                   .

                      Plaintiff, Housing Rights Initiative, Inc. (“HRI”), moves pursuant to CPLR § 2221(d) to

            reargue this Court’s August 16, 2022 order granting the defendants’, Peter and Najwa

            Khamashta, motion to dismiss and finding that HRI lacked organizational standing to bring this

            action as it had not shown that it had suffered a harm or injury in fact sufficient to establish

            standing. (See NYSCEF Doc. No. 98) The instant motion to reargue comes before this Court by

            an April 24, 2023 transfer order of the Honorable Eric Schumacher whom before this matter is

            currently pending.

             156195/2021 HOUSING RIGHTS INITIATIVE, INC. vs. CENTURY 21 DAWNS REALTY ET AL                           Page 1 of 4
             Motion No. 006

                                                                           1 of 4
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  FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/23/2024 12:37 PM                                                  INDEX NO. 156195/2021
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 215                                                                        RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/23/2024

                     Pursuant to CPLR §2221(d), a motion for leave to reargue must be based upon matters of

            fact or law allegedly overlooked or misapprehended by the Court in determining the prior motion

            that would change the prior determination. See Sheridan v. Very, Ltd., 56 A.D.3d 305 (1st Dept.

            2008).

                     This Court found that the plaintiff had failed to show that it had standing to bring the

            underlying action because it found that the plaintiff’s alleged injury in fact, the voluntary

            expenditure of resources to employ and train employees to function as testers by posing as

            prospective tenants did, “not arise from the actual discrimination itself.” The Court also found

            that HRI unlike the plaintiff in Mixon v. Grinker, which the plaintiff relied on in its argument

            that it had in fact suffered an adequate injury for standing, did not represent “individuals who

            [were] unable to seek a judicial remedy on their own behalf[.]” See NYSCEF Doc. No. 98 citing

            Mixon v. Grinker 157 AD2d 423, 427 (N.Y. App. Div., 1st Dept.1990).

                     The defendants acknowledge in their opposition to the plaintiff’s CPLR § 2221(d) motion

            that the Court need only find, "a perceptible impairment of an organization's activities” in order

            to find that an organization suffered an injury in fact necessary to establish organizational

            standing. (See Doc. No. 193 at 5 (citing Centro de la Comunidad Hispana v. Oyster Bay, 868

            F.3d 104, 110 (2d Cir. 2017). The defendants however argues that HRI has still failed to show a

            “concrete and demonstrable injury” to HRI’s activities and that its alleged injury in fact is too

            vague to meet the Havens standard. See Id. (citing Havens Realty Corp. v. Coleman Havens, 455

            U.S. 363, 379 (1982) where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a fair housing organization would

            have standing to enforce the anti-discrimination provisions of the federal Fair Housing Act

            (“FHA”), if the alleged misconduct has caused the organization a "concrete and demonstrable

            injury to the organization's activities-with the consequent drain on the organization's resources.

             156195/2021 HOUSING RIGHTS INITIATIVE, INC. vs. CENTURY 21 DAWNS REALTY ET AL          Page 2 of 4
             Motion No. 006

                                                            2 of 4
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  FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/23/2024 12:37 PM                                                 INDEX NO. 156195/2021
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 215                                                                        RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/23/2024

            See Havens at 379; see also Sherwood Terrace Apts. v. N.Y. State Div. of Hum. Rts., 61 A.D.3d

            1333, 1334 (4th Dep’t 2009) (citing Havens while affirming an award of compensatory damages

            to a fair housing organization under the New York State Human Rights Law (“NYSHRL”) for

            the resources the organization expended in investigating the complainant’s allegations). As the

            State of New York indicated in the amicus brief it filed in this matter, the State Division of

            Human Rights who enforces and promulgates regulations to effectuate the NYSHRL has

            consistently interpreted the NYSHRL as providing for organizational standing under the Havens

            standard. (See NYSCEF Doc. No 189.)

                   Upon reading the parties’ arguments for and against the granting of reargument in this

            matter and the Amicus Brief submitted by the State, the Court finds that the standards for

            granting reargument pursuant to CPLR §2221(d) have been met. Upon granting such

            reargument, the Court determines that the plaintiff has met the Havens standard for institutional

            standing in this matter. Specifically, that it had expended organizational resources to combat the

            defendants’ alleged discrimination and that such resources would have otherwise been utilized in

            carrying out HRI’s other activities under its mission to ensure equal housing access. (See Doc.

            No. 160.)

                   The additional arguments put forward by the defendants arguing for dismissal of this

            matter were not addressed by the Court in its underlying August 16, 2022 decision and are still in

            factual dispute amongst the parties. Thus, the Court will not address such arguments at this time.

             156195/2021 HOUSING RIGHTS INITIATIVE, INC. vs. CENTURY 21 DAWNS REALTY ET AL         Page 3 of 4
             Motion No. 006

                                                            3 of 4
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  FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/23/2024 12:37 PM                                                  INDEX NO. 156195/2021
  NYSCEF DOC. NO. 215                                                                         RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/23/2024

                   This constitutes the decision and order of this Court.

                   02/23/2024                                                            $SIG$
                     DATE                                                         W. FRANC PERRY, J.S.C.
            CHECK ONE:                   CASE DISPOSED                X   NON-FINAL DISPOSITION

                                                                                                   □
                                     X   GRANTED             DENIED       GRANTED IN PART              OTHER

            APPLICATION:                 SETTLE ORDER                     SUBMIT ORDER

                                                                                                   □
            CHECK IF APPROPRIATE:        INCLUDES TRANSFER/REASSIGN       FIDUCIARY APPOINTMENT        REFERENCE

            156195/2021 HOUSING RIGHTS INITIATIVE, INC. vs. CENTURY 21 DAWNS REALTY ET AL           Page 4 of 4
            Motion No. 006

                                                           4 of 4
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