On June 28, 2017, the Appellate Division, Second Department, held that a tenant has standing to challenge the definition of “Family” as set forth in the Freeport Village Code.

In Tomasulo v. Village of Freeport, ___A.D.3d___, the Village commenced a criminal proceeding against non-party property owner, William Goodhue, Jr. (owner), alleging that the tenancy between Tomasulo (tenant) and the owner violated sections 171-1 and 210-3 of the Freeport Village Code. The tenant had resided in a single family home with the owner of the home and two other non-related persons. This arrangement violated the definition of “Family” in the Village Code. As a result of the criminal proceeding, the owner commenced an eviction proceeding against Tomasulo.

In response to the eviction proceeding, Tomasulo commenced an Article 78 proceeding against the Village challenging the constitutionality of the definition of “Family” contained in Village Code sections 171-1 and 210-3.  The trial court converted the Article 78 proceeding to a complaint and granted the Village’s motion for summary judgment holding that Tomasulo lacked standing to seek a declaration as to the “constitutionality of the disputed portions of the Village Code” because Tomasulo had “not been injured or threatened with injury as a result of those provisions . . . and [Tomasulo] failed to adequately allege the existence of a justiciable controversy.”

In reversing the trial court, the Second Department stated that Tomasulo “demonstrated a ‘threatened injury to [his] protected right’ to his tenancy in the owner’s house . . . such that he has adequately shown ‘an interest sufficient to constitute standing to maintain the action.'”

Finding that Tomasulo’s pending eviction proceeding demonstrated a “present, rather than hypothetical, contingent or remote, prejudice to [him] . . . [the Court declared that the] Village did not establish, prima facie, its entitlement to judgment as a matter of law.”

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