Default Judgment Vacated After Tenant Shows Reasonable Excuse for Default

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant for illegally subletting her apartment. The court ruled for landlord after tenant failed to appear in court and it had conducted an inquest. Tenant later asked the court to vacate the default judgment. The court ruled for tenant based on excusable default and a potentially meritorious defense. The court found that tenant demonstrated a reasonable excuse for her failure to appear based on credibly describing a period of depression and anxiety after her daughter died in 2020, notwithstanding a lack of medical documentation. Tenant also showed she was confused because there was also a nonpayment proceeding pending against her as she mistakenly addressed the nonpayment issues in responses to the holdover proceeding. Tenant also showed a potentially meritorious defense. She and her 22-year old granddaughter lived in the apartment, and tenant claimed that she never sublet to anyone and that she maintained the apartment as her primary residence. While landlord disputed tenant's claimed facts, she still showed a potentially meritorious defense. 

Woodhull Park 191 LLC v. W.M.: Index No. L&TXXXXXX/23, 2024 NY Slip Op 50964(U)(Civ. Ct. Queens; 7/22/24; Guthrie, J)