The Appellate Division First Department of the Supreme Court of the State of New York recently issued an order affirming the denial of defendants’ renewed motion for spoliation sanctions in Blinbaum v. Chan. The decision arose from a dispute between neighboring townhouse owners regarding damages allegedly caused by construction work.
In January 2018, the plaintiff and defendants entered into a license agreement granting the defendants temporary access to the plaintiff’s property to complete renovations on defendants’ adjoining townhouse. Under the agreement, the plaintiff had sole discretion over any necessary repairs if damage resulted from the defendants’ work. In January 2020, Plaintiff filed a lawsuit asserting that water infiltration in August 2018 had harmed his townhouse. When additional water infiltration occurred in July 2021, the plaintiff repaired the roof.
Defendants sought spoliation sanctions in May 2022, arguing that plaintiff’s July 2021 repairs violated a court order that allowed an expert inspection of the roof. The trial court denied their motion without prejudice, directing another inspection by June 30, 2023. After the inspection, defendants renewed their motion, submitting an expert affidavit stating that the prior repairs had obstructed a proper assessment. Plaintiff opposed with evidence showing that defendants’ insurer, accompanied by their attorney, had inspected the roof and taken photographs in October 2018, just two months after the plaintiff first reported water damage. Additional inspections were made in 2021 and 2023, with sections of the roof removed at the request of defendants’ expert to provide access.
The First Department concluded that the trial court properly exercised its discretion in denying the defendants’ renewed motion for sanctions. The defendants failed to show that the missing evidence was their only means of defending against the plaintiff’s claims or that the July 2021 repairs impaired their ability to challenge allegations that their construction work caused the damage. Notably, they did not dispute that their insurer and counsel had inspected and documented the roof conditions as early as October 2018. Furthermore, their expert acknowledged during a June 2023 inspection that he could distinguish between the July 2021 repairs and earlier ones.
The appellate court also found that the plaintiff acted within his rights under the license agreement in repairing his roof. Given his assertion that water infiltration had continued since August 2018, the court determined that the repairs did not amount to spoliation. The record further supported that the repairs were undertaken to mitigate ongoing damage, not in bad faith.
The decision highlights the balance courts must maintain between preserving evidence and allowing property owners to protect their homes from further damage. By affirming the trial court’s decision, the First Department reinforced the principle that necessary repairs made in good faith should not be penalized under spoliation doctrine.
Jose A. Aquino (@JoseAquinoEsq on X) is a special counsel at Duane Morris LLP’s New York office, where he is a member of Construction Group, specializing in construction law, lien law, and government procurement law. He is also a member of the Cuba Business Group.
This blog is prepared and published for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Duane Morris LLP or its individual attorneys.