Lease Termination Notice Didn't Contain Enough Facts

Landlord sued to evict tenants for creating a nuisance in violation of their lease. Tenants asked the court to dismiss the case. They claimed that landlord's termination notice didn't state sufficient facts to support its claim. The court ruled for tenants and dismissed the case. Landlord's notice told tenants that, "you have failed to take good care of the apartment and all equipment and fixtures therein, you have allowed garbage waste and other matter to accumulate in and about the apartment, causing a dangerous, unsafe, and unsanitary condition in violation of applicable laws and governmental regulations, you have interfered with the tenancies and rights of other tenants by allowing annoying and objectionable smells and odors to emanate from your apartment, and you have failed to comply with the garbage disposal rules and dispose of all waste in a proper manner, all of which have caused and created a nuisance and dangerous and unsanitary condition in the building." However, the notice failed to provide the dates, times, names of tenants affected by the claimed nuisance, and specific examples of the nuisance. The notice didn't give tenant enough information concerning the nine-year period she had lived in the apartment to allow her to frame a defense.

Spivack Realty Co., Inc. v. Svobodny: 21 Misc.3d 1147(A), 2008 WL 5274804 (12/22/08) (Dist. Ct. Nassau; Fairgrieve, J)