Landlord's Chronic Nonpayment Claim Dismissed

Landlord sued to evict tenant for chronic nonpayment of rent. The court ruled against landlord, who appealed and lost. Tenant's rent defaults had led to the commencement of four nonpayment proceedings between October 2007 and June 2010. But in two of those cases, there were legitimate disputes as to whether the monthly rent sought was proper. In each of those cases, landlord and tenant signed settlement agreements awarding landlord rent in amounts substantially less than sought in the petitions and landlord was required to make repairs. Under the circumstances, landlord couldn't base a claim on chronic nonpayment.

Chama Holding Corp. v. Taylor: NYLJ, 9/17/12, p. 18, col. 1 (App. T. 1 Dept.; Lowe III, PJ, Schoenfeld, Hunter, JJ)