Hardship Declaration Filed in Ejectment Action Stays Case Through August 2021

(Decision submitted by John Bart of DC37 Municipal Employees Legal Services, attorneys for the tenant.)

Landlord of a two-family house sued to eject occupant for failing to pay rent/use and occupancy and for creating a nuisance by accumulating garbage, which landlord claimed attracted vermin and insects to infest the apartment. When tenant failed to answer the complaint, landlord asked the court for a default judgment against tenant. Tenant then appealed and asked the court to dismiss the case. She claimed that landlord didn't plead sufficient facts for her to frame a response and that certain violations at the building didn't concern her floor. Tenant also submitted a Hardship Declaration to the court and claimed that this stayed the case until Aug. 31, 2021. The court ruled for tenant in part. The COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act (CEEFPA) applied to ejectment actions as well as to housing court eviction proceedings. So the nonpayment case was stayed through Aug. 31, 2021, the current end date for New York's eviction moratorium. The court also found that landlord's claims concerning tenant nuisance were too vague and didn't include details regarding the specific acts and their time frames. So there was no exception to CEEFPA based on the nuisance claim.

Greene Org. LLC v. Jones: Index No. 508862/2020, 2021 NY Slip Op 31962(U)(Sup. Ct. Kings; 6/15/21; Wade, J)