Landlord v. Tenant

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Discrimination: Preliminary Injunction to Reinstall Building Ramps Denied

Disabled tenants sued landlord for violations of the federal Fair Housing Act and New York State Fire Prevention and Building Code. They claimed that landlord improperly removed wheelchair ramps that tenants used at the building and therefore deprived them of reasonable and safe access to their apartments. They asked the court to direct landlord to reinstall the ramps whil...

Discrimination: Landlord Discriminated Based on Sexual Orientation

Tenant complained to the state Division of Human Rights (DHR) of housing discrimination based on sexual orientation. The DHR ruled for tenant, awarded damages and fines, and then sued landlord to enforce its judgment. The court ruled for the DHR. State law prohibits landlords from refusing to rent an apartment or otherwise withhold services from a tenant based on sexual orientation.

Landlord sued to evict tenant for unauthorized subletting. The court ruled for tenant without a trial and dismissed the complaint. Landlord appealed and won, in part. Tenant claimed that he had cured the illegal sublet. But the subtenant remained in the apartment nearly two years after landlord started the eviction proceeding, while tenant lived elsewhere. So landlord was entitled to a judgment in its favor. But since tenant had now cured by removing the subtenant, the ...

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant for nonprimary residence. Landlord claimed that tenant lived at another Manhattan address with her boyfriend and young child, while subletting the apartment to a series of people. Tenant claimed that the other apartment occupants were her roommates, that she spent some time at her mother's house when she became pregnant at age 45, and that she spends only weekends with her boyfriend, the child's father.

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant for nonprimary residence. Landlord claimed that tenant illegally sublet his apartment while living at his girlfriend's apartment more than half of the prior year. The court ruled against landlord after a trial. Tenant submitted many documents showing that he used the apartment during the period in question. He kept all of his personal belongings in his apartment and occasionally spent nights at his girlfriend's apart...

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant for illegal subletting. Tenant denied the claim and asked the court to dismiss the case. The court ruled for tenant. Landlord appealed and lost. Tenant showed that the supposed “subtenant” was in fact her sister, who had lived in the apartment for at least several years with tenant. So an illegal sublet claim wasn't appropriate. Since landlord believed that tenant had moved out of the apartment, it should ins...

Landlord sued to evict tenant for subletting his apartment without landlord's prior written approval. Tenant asked the court to dismiss the case. He claimed that the notice to cure and termination notice sent by landlord failed to inform him of the reason for landlord's claim. The court ruled for tenant and dismissed the case. Landlord's notices stated only that tenant was in default for unauthorized subletting and listed the lease provisions that tenant vio...

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant for unauthorized subletting. Tenant asked the court to dismiss the case. Landlord had denied tenant's request to sublet for two years while she went to Florida to recuperate from cancer treatments. Landlord claimed that tenant bought a house in Florida and didn't intend to return to New York. Tenant said that she did intend to come back to the apartment. The court ruled for tenant. Under Real Property Law Section 226...

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant for illegal subletting. The court granted tenant's request to dismiss the case without a trial. Landlord appealed, and the case was reopened. Tenant didn't prove that as a matter of law she intended to move back into the apartment as her primary residence at the end of the sublease. Tenant's own correspondence to landlord during the two weeks before the proposed sublet period started was vague and inconsistent.

Landlord sued to evict tenant for unauthorized subletting to tenant's brother. The court ruled for landlord. Tenant appealed and won. The informal occupancy arrangement between tenant and his brother was not proved to be an illegal sublet. There was no proof that the brother was obligated to pay or actually paid any rent or that tenant couldn't revoke his brother's right to stay in the apartment. Although tenant had been staying in a nursing home, any issue ...