Landlord's Eviction Petition Didn't Properly Describe Premises

Landlord sued to evict tenant after sending a 30-day termination notice. Tenant asked the court to dismiss the case, claiming that landlord's court petition inaccurately described the premises. The court ruled for tenant. Under Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law Section 741(3), a petition must accurately describe the exact location of a premises in sufficient detail to permit a marshal executing an eviction warrant to locate it and effectuate an eviction without additional information. Landlord's description omitted significant details about the unit and would make it impossible to carry out an eviction. Landlord's termination notice also contained a different description of the premises, and a termination notice couldn't be amended. This compounded the confusion in landlord's description of the premises.

SKMMNY LLC v. Pope: Index No. 66589/19, NYLJ No. 1586885228 (Civ. Ct. Queens; 4/1/20; Guthrie, J)