Landlord Didn't Harass Tenant by Starting Proceeding
LVT Number: #22780
In 2005, prior landlord sent rent-stabilized tenant living in Stuyvesant Town a lease nonrenewal notice based on nonprimary residence. Before landlord started a holdover proceeding in housing court, tenant sued landlord, claiming breach of her lease agreement. Tenant’s lawsuit was stayed pending the outcome of the housing court case. Eventually, prior landlord withdrew the eviction proceeding after pretrial questioning. Tenant then asked the court for permission to amend her lawsuit against landlord to add claims for emotional distress, harassment, and nuisance. Tenant claimed that landlord intentionally acted to harass her while knowing that she was suffering a serious medical condition. Landlord, in turn, asked the court to dismiss tenant’s case. Landlord won. New landlord had given tenant a renewal lease, so there was no longer any reason to claim that her lease had been breached by nonrenewal. There also was no grounds for tenant’s other claims. The eviction proceeding was the only case landlord had ever commenced against tenant. The housing court denied tenant’s pretrial motion to dismiss that case, so the case wasn’t frivolous. And landlord didn’t learn that tenant had a medical condition requiring brain surgery until one and one-half years after the two court cases began.
Santo v. Rose Associates Inc.: NYLJ, 7/8/10, p. 26, col. 5 (Sup. Ct. NY; Feinman, J)