Landlord Can't Prove Any Jury Waiver Lease Clause

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant. Tenant demanded a jury trial. Landlord asked the court to strike tenant's demand. Landlord claimed that tenant's lease contained a jury-waiver provision. The court ruled against landlord. Landlord appealed and lost. Neither landlord nor tenant could produce a copy of tenant's original lease, which was signed more than 30 years ago. So there was no proof that the original lease contained a jury-waiver clause. Landlord claimed that provisions included in several renewal leases issued to tenant waived the right to a jury trial. But without the original lease, landlord couldn't prove whether the renewal leases were based on the same terms and conditions as the original lease, as required by the Rent Stabilization Code. So landlord couldn't rely on any renewal lease provision to enforce a claimed jury-waiver provision.

Camilleri v. Pena: NYLJ, 12/31/08, p. 35, col. 2 (App. T. 1 Dept.; Davis, JP, Schoenfeld, Heitler, JJ)