Landlord Violated Court Order

March 1, 1997

LVT Number: 11275

Tenant sued landlord, claiming she was illegally locked out of her apartment. Landlord and tenant signed a court-ordered stipulation to settle the case. Landlord didn't honor the terms of the stipulation, however, and tenant asked the court to impose civil and criminal sanctions for contempt of court. The court ruled for tenant and imposed a $2,000 sanction. Landlord appealed, claiming this was unfair. The court ruled for landlord. The sanctions imposed were clearly civil rather than criminal and so should have been in an amount proper to compensate tenant.

Tenant sued landlord, claiming she was illegally locked out of her apartment. Landlord and tenant signed a court-ordered stipulation to settle the case. Landlord didn't honor the terms of the stipulation, however, and tenant asked the court to impose civil and criminal sanctions for contempt of court. The court ruled for tenant and imposed a $2,000 sanction. Landlord appealed, claiming this was unfair. The court ruled for landlord. The sanctions imposed were clearly civil rather than criminal and so should have been in an amount proper to compensate tenant. The case was sent back for a hearing on a proper amount for sanction.

Scarlett v. Ali: NYLJ, p. 30, col. 6 (2/18/97) (App. T. 2 Dept.; Kassoff, PJ, Aronin, Patterson, JJ)

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