The state's highest court heard oral arguments Tuesday on whether a lower court was right to rule that a major New York developer could keep a nearly $4 million deposit from the botched sale of waterfront property on Staten Island.

In February 2016, the Appellate Division, First Department, ruled that Muss Development was not required to return a prospective buyer's nearly $4 million deposit on a 23-acre parcel of land on Raritan Bay in Staten Island (NYLJ, Feb. 8 2016).

In the unanimous decision, Princes Point v. Muss Development, 601849/08, Justice Rolando Acosta wrote that “because a rescission action unequivocally evinces the plaintiff's intent to disavow its contractual obligations, the commencement of such an action before the date of performance constitutes an anticipatory breach.”