Landlord Waited Too Long to Seek Eviction for Keeping a Dog

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenants for keeping a pet dog without landlord’s consent in violation of the “no pets” clause of their lease. Tenants asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial, claiming that landlord waited more than three months after discovering the dog to start the eviction case, and therefore waived its right to do so under the NYC Pet Law.

The court ruled for tenants and dismissed the case. Tenants showed that they bought the dog in September 2015, that they openly and notoriously engaged in activities with the dog, and that landlord’s employees had knowledge of the dog’s presence since they brought it into the apartment. Landlord, on the other hand, produced no sufficient proof of its claim that it had no knowledge of the dog’s presence until May 2016. The statements by landlord’s managing agent were conclusory and lacked any indication that he had personal knowledge of the facts. While tenants failed to provide names of the building super or maintenance workers they claimed had seen the dog, landlord knew or should know which of its employees were at the building during the months in question but failed to produce any sworn statements from these employees to support its claim. 

167 LLC v. Mendoza: 53 Misc.3d 1219(A), 2016 NY Slip Op 51745(U) (Civ. Ct. Bronx; 12/8/16; Lutwak, J)