Landlord Didn't Start Case on Time

Landlord sued to evict tenant for keeping a dog in violation of her lease. Landlord claimed it discovered the dog in June 1995, when he asked the superintendent if tenant had one. Landlord started the eviction action in September 1995. But tenant showed that she got the dog from a pet store in March 1995. She walked the dog three times a day from the outset, using the main elevator, lobby, and building doors. Many tenants as well as the super saw the dog. The super also saw the dog in tenant's apartment in May when he came into the apartment with the building exterminator. By that time the Rottweiller dog weighed at least 75 pounds and barked at anyone who entered the apartment. So even if landlord didn't know about the dog until June, it should have known, given tenant's undisputed open ownership of the dog. The court dismissed landlord's case because it wasn't started on time.

Hudson View Associates v. Andrews: NYLJ, p. 34, col. 1 (12/27/95) (City Ct. Yonkers; Nocca, J)