1781 RIVERSIDE LLC v. HIDALGO (2022)

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Laurence L. Love, J.) entered April 7, 2021, which denied plaintiff's motion to amend the complaint to add a cause of action for quantum meruit and unjust enrichment, unanimously affirmed, with costs.

The court providently exercised its discretion in denying the motion to amend, as proposed amendment was palpably insufficient (see Y.A. v. Conair Corp., 154 A.D.3d 611, 612, 62 N.Y.S.3d 116 [1st Dept. 2017]).  Plaintiff failed to allege that it was in compliance with the stipulation and order from two earlier summary proceedings brought by plaintiff against defendant, and also acknowledges that since February 28, 2017, it has failed to offer defendant a renewal lease as required by Rent Stabilization Code [9 NYCRR] §§ 2522.5(b)(1) and 2523.5(a).  Thus, the quantum meruit and unjust enrichment claim failed to allege facts that would establish plaintiff's good faith – a necessary allegation to support an equitable claim (see Soumayah v. Minnelli, 41 A.D.3d 390, 391, 839 N.Y.S.2d 79 [1st Dept. 2007], appeal withdrawn 9 N.Y.3d 989, 848 N.Y.S.2d 27, 878 N.E.2d 611 [2007]).

The failure to tender a renewal lease to a rent-stabilized tenant alone “does not constitute a waiver of rent;  it simply requires that plaintiff prove the rent through quantum meruit, or some subsequent agreement of the parties” (B.N. Realty Assoc. v. Lichtenstein, 96 A.D.3d 434, 435, 949 N.Y.S.2d 1 [1st Dept. 2012]).  Nevertheless, because plaintiff's proposed amendment failed to allege a good faith performance of services, the equitable claim is still palpably insufficient (Haberman v. Singer, 3 A.D.3d 188, 192, 771 N.Y.S.2d 505 [1st Dept. 2004]).  Similarly, plaintiff alleges that defendant agreed to pay use and occupancy in the 2017 summary proceeding but does not allege that plaintiff fulfilled the terms of that agreement, thus falling short of alleging its entitlement to an equitable remedy.

We have considered plaintiff's remaining contentions and find them unavailing.