Justice Saliann Scarpulla
Tenants George and Ann Dolger moved to dismiss the complaint arguing lack of personal jurisdiction. 1150 Fifth Avenue Owners Corp. sought a declaration that the lease for the Dolgers’ apartment was terminated, ordering their ejectment and prohibiting George, a part-time psychotherapist, from seeing patients in the apartment. At a special meeting, the Board of Directors unanimously determined that the Dolgers’ tenancy was undesirable and terminated it as of January 2011. The Dolgers answered the complaint and counterclaimed for unlawful tenant harassment, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing and for attorney fees. The court said George disputed service on numerous points, posing a clear dispute of facts that could only properly be resolved by a hearing. Further, it noted, contrary to the owner’s allegation, the lack of personal jurisdiction defense was not waived. The court ruled that while unrelated counterclaims waive a personal jurisdiction defense as a defendant would be taking affirmative advantage of the court’s jurisdiction, the Dolgers’ counterclaims were not “unrelated” for these purposes. Hence, the motion to dismiss was denied.
