Landlord Can't Evict Tenant for Chronic Nonpayment

March 31, 2011

LVT Number: #23276

NYCHA charged tenant with chronic nonpayment of rent, and, after a hearing, NYCHA terminated her tenancy. Tenant appealed, claiming that the decision was arbitrary and unreasonable. The court ruled for tenant. She was 57, illiterate, and totally dependent on her daughter for assistance. Public assistance was tenant's only source of income, and it appeared that tenant's public assistance had been canceled several times based on bureaucratic error. Tenant wasn't deliberately not paying rent, and NYCHA's decision shocked the court's sense of fairness.

NYCHA charged tenant with chronic nonpayment of rent, and, after a hearing, NYCHA terminated her tenancy. Tenant appealed, claiming that the decision was arbitrary and unreasonable. The court ruled for tenant. She was 57, illiterate, and totally dependent on her daughter for assistance. Public assistance was tenant's only source of income, and it appeared that tenant's public assistance had been canceled several times based on bureaucratic error. Tenant wasn't deliberately not paying rent, and NYCHA's decision shocked the court's sense of fairness. The case was sent back to NYCHA to impose a lesser penalty.

Cabrera v. NYCHA: Index No. 401234/10, NYLJ No. 1202485561070 (Sup. Ct. NY; 3/8/11; Mendez, J)

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