Landlord Didn't Send Tenant Notice to Permit Access for Repairs

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant on the grounds of nuisance. Landlord had sent tenant a lease termination notice based on tenant's denial of access to landlord for apartment repairs on two separate dates. Tenant asked the court to dismiss the case. He claimed that his conduct didn't constitute a nuisance and that landlord therefore was required to send him a notice to cure before terminating his tenancy. The court ruled for tenant. Landlord appealed, and lost again. Under tenant's lease, no notice to cure was required if landlord terminated the tenancy based on nuisance. Nuisance could include a long history of denying access to the apartment. But in this case, only two incidents of denial of access were claimed. So tenant's conduct didn't amount to nuisance. Tenant's lease required landlord to send a notice to cure if access for repairs was denied. Since landlord failed to do so before sending the termination notice, the case was properly dismissed.

Karagiannis v. Nasr: NYLJ, 10/31/07, pg. 34, col. 1 (App. T. 2 Dept.; Pesce, PJ, Rios, Belen, JJ)