Landlord Entitled to Money Held in Escrow

Facts: Tenants in housing complex had access for many years to a swimming pool located in one of the buildings. The building that housed the pool was sold and then converted to a co-op. The co-op then barred tenants' access to the pool. Tenants withheld rent from landlord, claiming that the pool was a required service that landlord now didn't provide. Landlord sued to evict tenants for nonpayment of rent. Landlord and tenants settled the nonpayment cases by agreeing that tenants would pay $52,500 in back rent being held in escrow to landlord if landlord was able to get tenants access to the pool from the co-op. Landlord then negotiated an agreement with the co-op where tenants would again have access to the pool. Landlord asked the court to release the escrow money. Tenants objected, claiming that landlord hadn't gotten the hours of access to the pool that they formerly had and so hadn't complied with the court agreement. The court ruled for tenants, and landlord appealed and lost. Landlord appealed again. Court: Landlord wins. While landlord's agreement with the co-op didn't specifically contain the equal access provisions of the 1950 and 1960 access agreements, it permitted equal access to landlord's tenants and co-op tenants. And since the new agreement went into effect, tenants had equal access to the pool at double the minimum hours provided for in the agreement and at a rate comparable to that provided in 1992, when the co-op first denied them access. Tenants were ordered to release the back rent held in escrow to landlord.

London Terrace Gardens v. Various Tenants: NYLJ, p. 26, col. 6 (4/2/98) (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Sullivan, JP, Milonas, Rubin, Tom, JJ)