Turan v Meadowbrook Pointe Homeowners Assn., Inc. |
2022 NY Slip Op 07255 [211 AD3d 985] |
December 21, 2022 |
Appellate Division, Second Department |
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
Richard Turan, Respondent, v Meadowbrook Pointe Homeowners Association, Inc., Appellant. |
Braverman Greenspun, P.C., New York, NY (Maria Boboris of counsel), for appellant.
Law Offices of Steven Cohn, P.C., Carle Place, NY (Susan E. Dantzig of counsel), for respondent.
In an action for a judgment declaring that a house rule promulgated by the defendant's board of directors prohibiting dogs greater than 25 pounds from being present on the condominium premises is null and void, the defendant appeals from (1) an order of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Leonard D. Steinman, J.), entered January 2, 2020, and (2) a judgment of the same court entered February 6, 2020. The order granted the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment declaring that the subject house rule is null and void, and denied the defendant's cross motion, in effect, for summary judgment declaring that the subject house rule is valid. The judgment, upon the order, declared that the subject house rule is null and void.
Ordered that the appeal from the order is dismissed; and it is further,
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed; and it is further,
Ordered that one bill of costs is awarded to the plaintiff.
The appeal from the order must be dismissed because the right of direct appeal therefrom terminated with the entry of the judgment in the action (see Matter of Aho, 39 NY2d 241, 248 [1976]). The issues raised on the appeal from the order are brought up for review and have been considered on the appeal from the judgment (see CPLR 5501 [a] [1]; Matter of Aho, 39 NY2d at 248).
The plaintiff is the owner of a condominium unit in a building managed by the
defendant. At a meeting on August 14, 2018, the defendant's board of directors
(hereinafter the board) unanimously approved a house rule prohibiting dogs greater than
25 pounds from being present on the condominium premises (hereinafter the house rule).
In November 2018, the plaintiff commenced this action for a judgment declaring that the
house rule was null and void, since the house rule was not approved by
66
Where a condominium unit owner challenges an action by the condominium's board
of directors, courts apply the business judgment rule, and the court's inquiry is limited to
whether the board of directors acted within the scope of its authority under the bylaws
and whether the action was taken in good faith to further a legitimate interest of the
condominium (see Katz v Board
of Mgrs. of Stirling Cove Condominium Assn., 201 AD3d 634, 635 [2022]; Pascual v Rustic Woods
Homeowners Assn., Inc., 134 AD3d 1003, 1005 [2015]). Here, the plaintiff
demonstrated, prima facie, that the board's adoption of the house rule was not authorized
by the condominium bylaws, and thus, the adoption of that rule was not protected by the
business judgment rule (see
Yusin v Saddle Lakes Home Owners Assn., Inc., 73 AD3d 1168, 1171 [2010];
Strathmore Ridge Homeowners
Assn., Inc. v Mendicino, 63 AD3d 1038 [2009]). Since neither the
condominium bylaws nor the condominium declaration of covenants, restrictions,
easements, charges, and liens (hereinafter the declaration) contained any restriction on
the size of dogs permitted on the condominium premises, the house rule constituted an
amendment of a permitted use of the plaintiff's unit, which, pursuant to Article X of the
condominium bylaws, required approval by 66
Accordingly, the Supreme Court properly granted the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment declaring that the house rule is null and void, and denied the defendant's cross motion, in effect, for summary judgment declaring that the house rule is valid. Chambers, J.P., Wooten, Zayas and Wan, JJ., concur.