When Sean and Ann Straw supposedly failed to return their rent-stabilized renewal lease, their landlord "deemed" the tenancy renewed for another year. And when he later tried to evict the couple, the Queens County Civil Court concluded (after trial) that the owner wasn't permitted to "deem" the lease renewed for just a single year and dismissed the case.
On appeal, the Appellate Term, Second Department, thought the case should have been dismissed, but for different reasons. It was uncomfortable with the whole "deemed renewal" concept, particularly in the absence of a "meeting of the minds." And since there was no regulated renewal lease in place at the time the owner issued a "notice of non-renewal" as a predicate to a holdover, the AT2 was of the view the case wasn't maintainable.
We deem all that: unnecessary.
To view a copy of the Appellate Term's decision, please use this link: Weiss v. Straw