The plaintiff, a real estate broker, brought an urgent motion for a Certificate of Pending Litigation (CPL) on a pre-construction property after the defendant developer terminated the Agreement of Purchase and Sale.
The developer terminated the agreement upon discovering the plaintiff had submitted a false mortgage approval letter.
The court dismissed the motion, finding that while the plaintiff might have a triable interest in land, the property was not unique and damages would be an adequate remedy.
Crucially, the court held that the plaintiff did not come to court with clean hands, as he had tendered an admittedly false document, and thus was not entitled to equitable relief.
