Elderly Tenant Obtained Funds for Rent Arrears

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant for nonpayment of rent. The court ruled for landlord, and tenant was evicted. Tenant later asked the court to vacate the warrant and restore him to possession. The court ruled for tenant on condition that he pay the outstanding rent arrears, eviction costs, and landlord's attorney's fees within two weeks. Landlord appealed and lost. Tenant showed good cause to vacate the warrant. He had lived in the apartment for 46 years, was disabled and infirm, had tendered a substantial portion of the rent arrears, and showed that various agencies had committed to paying the balance due. Landlord itself had contributed to the delay in tenant's making payments by misplacing several DSS checks sent on tenant's behalf. The checks eventually had to be reissued.  

Lafayette Boynton Hsg. Corp. v. Pickett: 2014 NY Slip Op 51288(U), 2014 WL 4168517 (App. T. 1 Dept.; 8/22/14; Shulman, JP, Hunter Jr., Ling-Cohan, JJ)