Landlord Who Tried to Evade Rent Law Can't Get Back Rent

Facts: Tenant complained of a rent overcharge in 1983. The CAB ruled for tenant and reduced his monthly rent from $2,200 to $850. Landlord was ordered to refund $13,000. In a separate case, the CAB also ordered landlord to offer tenant a renewal lease. Landlord appealed the rent overcharge order. The court ruled against landlord. Tenant withheld rent payments until the refund was fully credited. When tenant began paying rent again in 1985, landlord refused to accept tenant's checks. Tenant asked for instructions from landlord on rent payment but received none. Instead, landlord later started several eviction cases and other court actions seeking payment of large amounts of back rent. Tenant asked the court to dismiss landlord's actions based on landlord's refusal to accept rent from tenant for a long time. The court ruled for tenant, and landlord appealed. Court: Landlord loses. Landlord refused to accept tenant's rent checks or to respond to tenant's request for instructions. He refused to offer tenant a renewal lease or to return tenant's excess security deposit for 13 years. Instead, landlord sued tenant to evict tenant for nonpayment in 1984, again sued tenant for use and occupancy in 1991, brought two more eviction cases in 1995 and 1996, and another action for use and occupancy in 1998. At one point, landlord held tenant's monthly rent checks for a year and deposited them all on one day. Landlord was putting tenant in a position where landlord could claim large amounts of back rent were owed to try to evict tenant. Landlord was clearly trying to evade the requirements of the Rent Stabilization Law. So landlord couldn't collect back rent at this point.

Haberman v. Singer: NYLJ, 2/13/04, p. 18, col. 1 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Buckley, PJ, Rosenberger, Ellerin, Williams, Gonzalez, JJ)