Landlord's Termination Notice Was Too Vague

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant for creating a nuisance. The court dismissed the case, finding that landlord’s termination notice wasn’t specific enough. Landlord appealed and lost. The notice did claim specifically that tenant had damaged the walls and floors of the apartment by removing the molding. But, otherwise, the notice was too vague, stating that tenant engaged in undefined “anti-social, disruptive, destructive, dangerous and/or illegal behavior,” and caused unspecified damage throughout the apartment and a serious health, safety, and fire hazard. The lack of facts cited in the notice prevented tenant from adequately preparing a defense.

69 E.M. LLC v. Mejia: 49 Misc.3d 152(A), 2015 NY Slip Op 51765(U) (App. T. 1 Dept.; 12/4/15; Schoenfeld, JP, Shulman, Hunter Jr., JJ)