Landlord Must Give Tenant Copies of Documents for Pretrial Questioning

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant for chronic late payment of rent. Landlord claimed that between 1999 and 2015, it had to commence 26 nonpayment proceedings against tenant, including at least one each year. In addition, during that time landlord issued four rent demands that didn't result in nonpayment cases. Tenant claimed that some of the cases were started more than six years ago and therefore the six-year statute of limitations on breach of contract barred consideration of those cases. Tenant also asked the court for permission to conduct pretrial questioning. The court ruled for tenant in part. The six-year rule didn't bar landlord from relying on older nonpayment cases as part of its claim, but allowed tenant to raise a defense at trial on that basis. The court granted tenant's request for discovery and ordered landlord to give tenant copies of all documents from court files concerning the prior nonpayment cases relied on in this case.

Flatbush Buildings, Inc. v. Dubresil: 2017 NY Slip Op 27250, 2017 WL 3203321 (Civ. Ct. Kings; 7/27/17; Weisberg, J)