Dress Shirt Sales, Inc., Appellants v. Hotel Martinique Associates, Respondents, Defendant

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals affirmed the summary judgment in favor of the hotel owners, holding that the lease expressly permitted the landlord to refuse sublease consent arbitrarily and that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate pecuniary loss required for a fraud damages claim. The court reasoned that the oral waiver was invalid under Real Property Law §282 and that any alleged fraud did not produce a recoverable loss. The opinion also noted that damages for fraud must be based on actual loss, which the plaintiffs could not show. Chief Judge Desmond, in a concurring opinion, agreed with the result but emphasized that the lease gave the landlord an unconditional right to refuse subletting and that no fraud liability arises from false statements about that right.