Landlord Can Pursue Eviction Case Marked Off Court Calendar for More than One Year

Landlord sued to evict apartment occupants in 1997 after rent-controlled tenant died. They claimed pass-on rights as remaining family members. The court allowed landlord to conduct pretrial questioning in early 1998. The case was then off the court's calendar for over a year. In mid-1999 landlord's attorneys issued 17 illegal subpoenas. Occupants asked the court to quash the subpoenas. The court quashed the subpoenas and put the case back on the court calendar in October 1999. Occupants claimed the case should be dismissed because it was off the court's calendar for over a year but the court allowed it to go forward. Landlord appealed the court's ruling on the subpoenas, and occupants agreed to a delay of trial while the appeal was pending. The appeals court ruled against landlord in August 2000. Occupants asked the court to restore the case and award them attorney's fees for the litigation on the subpoena issue. The court ruled for occupants and landlord appealed the amount of the attorney's fees award. Once that appeal was over, landlord asked the court to restore the case to the calendar for trial on the pass-on issue. Occupants argued that the case should be dismissed because it was again off calendar for over a year. Among other things, one of their witnesses had died during this time, and they claimed this gave them a disadvantage. Court: Occupants lose. Landlord has a meritorious claim and had a reasonable excuse for its delay in restoring the case to the court calendar while its appeal was pending. Landlord actively pursued the appeal and showed it had no intention of abandoning the case throughout that time.

Henriques v. Boitano: NYLJ, 7/17/02, p. 18, col. 6 (Civ. Ct. NY; Schneider, J)