Landlord Claims Tenant Interfered with Lead Paint Abatement

Tenant sued landlord, claiming lead paint in the apartment had injured her child. Landlord claimed it had tried to abate the lead paint condition, but that tenant had refused to move out of the apartment. Tenant asked the court to rule in her favor without a trial. The court ruled against tenant, and tenant appealed. The appeals court also ruled against tenant. There were questions of fact requiring a trial. These included whether landlord had attempted to remedy the condition on time, whether tenant had interfered with landlord's efforts to abate the lead paint condition, and whether tenant's refusal to move out of the apartment was justified.

Ouachtouki v. Neerg Second Corp.: 686 NYS2d 790 (1999) (App. Div. 2 Dept.; Miller, JP, Florio, McGinity, Luciano, JJ)