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BLOG / 08.11.26 /Kenneth R. Jacobs

Judge Temporarily Pauses Enforcement of Pied-á-Terre Tax

Last week several homeowners sued to prevent (“enjoin”) the enforcement of the PAT Tax until the City’s haphazard notices of potential tax liability to, and unwarranted publication of ownership and valuation information of, 17,000 owners was replaced with notices based on “individualized determinations” of liability as required by the law. The request asked for a Temporary Restraining Order [“TRO”] preventing further enforcement action until the Court made a decision on the plaintiff’s request.

The Court (Judge Ozzi in Staten Island) granted the TRO and barred the City from:

1. Continuing to post the names, addresses, and alleged valuations of property owners on the “Supplemental Roll,” a website on the Department of Finance available for public viewing;
2. Taking any further action to enforce the law based on the information contained in the Supplemental Roll or the notices of potential tax liability that had been mailed to owners, without first making an “individualized determination” of potential tax liability; or
3. Enforcing any deadline for claiming an exemption from the PAT Tax, including the September 18, 2026 deadline proposed by the City.

The signed TRO is available for review HERE. But that is by no means the whole story, as detailed below.

The City has already indicated its intention to seek permission to appeal from the Appellate Division, Second Department. We expect that the plaintiffs deliberately picked Staten Island as the place to file in order to obtain the benefit of its generally more conservative judges, but the Second Department has a very different composition.

We are also waiting to hear more from the City about its position on the September 18, 2026 deadline. Under a completely different section of New York law [CPLR § 5519(a)(1)],   by filing an “affirmation of intention to move for leave to appeal” the City automatically delays (“stays”) enforcement of a judgment or order adverse to the City. Thus as of this writing, the Supplemental Roll list is still available on the NYC DOF website, as is the page posting the September 18, 2026 deadline to file a challenge. The City might believe that it does not need to take any further action at this stage to stay enforcement of the TRO and keep the deadline in effect. That needs to be clarified.

We also cannot predict when the Appellate Division might even respond to the City’s request. We can speculate that the Courts or the City are likely to grant an extension of the September 18^th deadline for filing until there is a final decision or other resolution of the action and any appeal. But until that happens, owners should not cease their efforts to satisfy the new law’s requirements and continue to proceed as though the September 18, 2026 deadline remains in effect.

In the meantime, the next court hearing on the motion to enjoin enforcement of the PAT Tax is scheduled for August 31, 2026. We will keep everyone advised of new developments.