Landlord Can Add Co-Tenant As Party After Trial Held

Landlord cooperative corporation sued to evict apartment's proprietary lessee for breaching her obligations under the lease. Landlord claimed that the apartment was very cluttered, gave off offensive odors, and was infested with moths. At the beginning of the trial, the proprietary lessee asked the court to dismiss the case. She claimed that landlord failed to name her brother as a party to the proceeding. The proprietary lessee said that her brother was a co-tenant and co-proprietary lessee.

The court ruled against tenant and directed landlord to deliver an amended notice of petition on lessee’s brother. New York’s highest court had ruled previously that dismissal of a case for failure to join a necessary party should only be a last resort. Here, there was no danger of inconsistent judgments, and there was no harm done to the brother. The proprietary lease stated that service upon a lessee would be deemed as service upon all lessees. The brother also testified during the trial that he never lived in the apartment and didn’t pay maintenance. While he knew about the case, he never asserted any rights on his own behalf.

Vermeer Owners Inc. v. Messer: NYLJ, 8/19/09, p. 28, col. 1 (Civ. Ct. NY; Kraus, J)