Landlord's Default Excused by Court

When a former building super ceased his services, landlord sued to evict him. The housing court ruled against landlord, finding that the super and his wife were entitled to remain as rent-stabilized tenants. The super then sued landlord for discrimination before the State Division of Human Rights, but later withdrew this case. He also complained to the Department of Labor, but that case was resolved by payments from landlord. The super then sued landlord in federal court for discrimination and asked for a default judgment based on landlord’s failure to answer the complaint. Landlord asked the court to vacate the default. He said that he confused the super’s new lawsuit with the other cases. Landlord also said that he was experiencing serious financial problems, including bankruptcy and foreclosures on other properties. The court excused the default to permit landlord to answer, finding that the default resulted from difficult circumstances and confusion, and wasn’t willful. At the same time, the super had been less than diligent in pursuing his claims and any harm to him by this delay was minimal.

Silva v. Bridgebar LLC: Index No. 09 Civ. 8281, NYLJ No. 1202511357688 (SDNY; 8/2/11; Sweet, J)