The recent Court of Appeals decision DCH Auto v. Town of Mamaroneck, 2022 N.Y. Slip Op. 03929, 2022 WL 2162629 (June 16, 2022), resolved a raging controversy over whether tenants contractually obligated to pay real property taxes had a long-recognized statutory right to challenge the assessment at the administrative level.

The decisions overruled by DCH Auto placed thousands of commercial lessees that challenge their real property taxes at risk of having existing tax certiorari proceedings dismissed or missing critical filing deadlines for future tax years. By unanimous decision, the Court of Appeals establishing binding precedent that a tenant obligated by a lease to pay real property taxes has the statutory right to challenge those taxes.