The First Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Tom, determined defendant condominium owner was properly ejected from the condominium for failure to pay the common charges:
… [T]he Condominium Act and the applicable bylaws for the subject condominium authorize a lien for unpaid common charges and permit a lien foreclosure action and an action for the appointment of a receiver where appropriate (see Real Property Law §§ 339-z, 339-aa). Further, the order appointing the receiver in this matter authorized the receiver to take certain actions, including ejectment of defendant from the property … . * * *
Ejectment of defendant from the unit was not unconstitutional, since he failed to comply with the court’s prior order directing him to pay the “reasonable fair market rent” of $6,500 per month for his use and occupancy of the unit. Contrary to defendant’s contentions, he was properly required to pay rent on the unit, regardless of the fact that he was the unit’s owner, since both Real Property Law § 339-aa and section 5.9 of the bylaws provide that in a lien foreclosure action, “the Unit Owner shall be required to pay a reasonable rental for the use of said Unit Owner’s Unit.” It is inconsequential and irrelevant to this action that defendant defeated plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment in the 2011 action. Nor does ejectment under these circumstances deprive defendant of his “real property ownership/occupancy rights without due process of law.” Heywood Condominium v Wozencraft, 2017 NY Slip Op 00257, 1st Dept 1-12-17
CONDOMINIUMS (FAILURE TO PAY CONDOMINIUM COMMON CHARGES WAS A PROPER BASIS FOR EJECTION FROM THE CONDOMINIUM)/COMMON CHARGES (CONDOMINIUMS, FAILURE TO PAY CONDOMINIUM COMMON CHARGES WAS A PROPER BASIS FOR EJECTION FROM THE CONDOMINIUM)/EJECTION (CONDOMINIUMS, FAILURE TO PAY CONDOMINIUM COMMON CHARGES WAS A PROPER BASIS FOR EJECTION FROM THE CONDOMINIUM)