Landlord Didn't Illegally Lock Out Person Claiming to Be Apartment Occupant

(Decision submitted by Eileen O'Toole, of the Manhattan law firm of Borah, Goldstein, Altschuler, Nahins & Goidel, P.C., attorneys for the landlord.)

A person claiming that she was an apartment occupant sued landlord, claiming that landlord had illegally locked her out of tenant's apartment. The trial court ruled against occupant. Occupant claimed that she moved into the subsidized HUD Section 202/8 apartment with tenant two years earlier and slept on the floor there. She said that neither she nor tenant had a key to the apartment because tenant lost her own key, and tenant never gave occupant a key. Therefore, they left the apartment door ajar so that occupant could get access. Occupant also claimed that tenant left the building in November or December 2017 and that she didn't know where tenant was. Landlord's property manager testified that, in response to a lease violation to tenant for having an unauthorized occupant, occupant moved out of the apartment in April 2017. During a May 2017 apartment inspection, the manager saw no evidence that occupant lived there. Tenant's lease, lease amendment, and annual recertification didn't list anyone living in the apartment except tenant. The manager last saw tenant in late December 2017 and after learning that tenant may be missing, knocked on tenant's door on Jan. 22, 2018. The door was open, and the manager closed the door. Landlord also reported tenant as a missing person to the police, who found she had been admitted to a rehabilitation facility. The manager also pointed out that occupant signed a visitor log whenever she came to the building recently, which occupant admitted.

The court found that occupant didn't prove that landlord illegally locked her out. All landlord did was close a door of the unsecured apartment that was ajar. Occupant also didn't prove that she was peaceably in possession of the apartment. The Section 202/8 program, for supportive housing for the elderly, also required that the apartment be used solely for the residence of the household. Signing the visitor log every time she sought apartment access and not being an approved household member tended to prove that occupant wasn't protected by laws prohibiting self-help eviction. 

Adams v. JASA: Index No. 10749/2018 (Civ. Ct. NY; 2/1/18; Stoller, J) [5-pg. doc.]