Housing Court Has Jurisdiction - Again

The Appellate Term has again swatted down an attempt by a tenant advocate to obtain a holding that a landlord can only commence a garden variety landlord-tenant proceeding before DHCR as opposed to commencing that case in Housing Court.Certain landlord-tenant "disputes" must be commenced at DHCR where a landlord seeks a "certificate of eviction". For instance, if a landlord wants to demolish a building that has rent regulated tenants in it the landlord must apply to DHCR for that certificate of eviction prior to receiving permission to demolish.Most landlord-tenant disputes are commenced in the Housing Court. Illegal sublet cases, non-payment proceedings, nuisance holdovers and very often - non-primary residence holdover proceedings are commenced there. Tenant advocates would prefer that any case be heard at DHCR because there is a guarantee that the case will take years. Delay always favors the tenant because each day that the tenant remains in possession is a good day when someone is trying to evict you. While the Housing Court is not as speedy as some would like, it is certainly faster than DHCR. So, tenant advocates have been trying to win determinations in the Housing Court that only DHCR has jurisdiction to hear types of cases that the Housing Court has heard for years.Not long ago this author panned a decision from a Housing Court judge who ruled that the Housing Court did not have jurisdiction to preside over a licensee holdover proceeding commenced in respect of a rent control apartment. Now a tenant advocate has sought a determination that the Housing Court does not have power to hear rent control non-primary residence proceedings.In 25 West 68th Street LLC v. Lynch, 2012 NY Slip Op 50843(U) (1st Dept. App.Term 2012), the Appellate Term affirmed a decision of Housing Court Judge Arlene Hahn holding that the Housing Court did have the power to hear non-primary residence proceedings. The Appellate Term ruled that a court of competent jurisdiction did have the power to hear that "type" of case.Landlords, tenants and Housing Court judges alike can rest easy knowing that non-primary residence proceedings will remain interesting cases on the Court's docket.