Did Tenants Violate No-Pets Lease Clause?

January 1, 2011

LVT Number: #23118

Landlord sued to evict cooperative tenant-shareholders for keeping or harboring a dog in violation of their proprietary lease. Tenants claimed that their adult daughter, who lived nearby, owned the dog and that the dog merely visited tenants' apartment periodically. Tenants asked the court to dismiss the case. The court ruled against tenants. Several neighboring tenants submitted sworn statements that the dog visited daily. And the question wasn't whether tenants owned the dog or whether the dog slept or lived, full time or primarily, in tenants' apartment.

Landlord sued to evict cooperative tenant-shareholders for keeping or harboring a dog in violation of their proprietary lease. Tenants claimed that their adult daughter, who lived nearby, owned the dog and that the dog merely visited tenants' apartment periodically. Tenants asked the court to dismiss the case. The court ruled against tenants. Several neighboring tenants submitted sworn statements that the dog visited daily. And the question wasn't whether tenants owned the dog or whether the dog slept or lived, full time or primarily, in tenants' apartment. The lease barred tenants from "keeping or harboring" pets. So a trial was needed to determine whether the dog's presence was sufficiently frequent and substantial that it created a lease violation. The court also refused to delay the eviction proceeding pending the outcome of tenants' housing discrimination claim filed with the State Division of Human Rights.

3720 Homes, Inc. v. Hyman: 2010 NY Slip Op 20527, 2010 WL 5468904 (App. T. 1 Dept.; McKeon, PJ, Schoenfeld, Shulman, JJ)

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