Landlord Can't Evict Tenant Who Is Buying Building

Landlord sued to evict apartment occupants. Occupants and landlord signed a settlement agreement in court. The court issued a judgment for landlord and an eviction warrant. Tenant who wasn't named as an apartment occupant in the eviction proceeding then asked the court to vacate the judgment. Tenant said she had lived in the building for six years, wasn't named in the eviction proceeding, and had signed a contract with landlord to buy the building. Landlord admitted in the contract that the woman was a tenant. The court ruled for tenant. First, landlord didn't name tenant in the eviction proceeding and tenant didn't sign the settlement agreement. Second, since tenant signed a contract to buy the building, there was no longer a landlord-tenant relationship and landlord couldn't remove tenant through a summary eviction proceeding.

Sethi v. Kaur: NYLJ, 5/2/07, p. 22, col. 1 (Dist. Ct. Nassau; Fairgrieve, J)