On June 3, 2008, the New York State Court of Appeals issued its unanimous ruling in Pultz v. Economakis, 10 NY3d 542 (2008). In Pultz, the landlord sought to evict, on owner occupancy grounds, the nine remaining rent stabilized tenants in a 15-unit building, so as to convert the building into a single-family house. The tenants argued that owner occupancy on such a scale violated the spirit of the city’s rent stabilization law (RSL). The Court of Appeals disagreed, holding that the relevant language of the RSL—that an owner could recover “one or more” rent stabilized apartments for personal use—meant what it said.
Tenant advocates and politicians decried the Pultz decision, asserting that it would lead to a flood of “mass evictions.” These advocates vowed to amend the RSL to eliminate owner occupancy outright, or to at least limit the number of apartments that could be recovered.
