New Law Didn't Cover Tenants

Landlord who bought the building at a foreclosure sale sent tenants a 10-day notice to vacate. Tenants had signed a four-year lease with former homeowner commencing Nov. 1, 2007. They claimed that, under the Protecting Tenants At Foreclosure Act, they were entitled to remain until their lease expired. The court ruled against tenants. First, they weren’t bona fide tenants since they had paid no rent. The lease waived rent for the first year while tenants made repairs to the house. Tenants claimed that they spent over $75,000. But they hadn’t finished the repairs within a year as required by the lease and still paid no rent. In addition, the lease was signed after a Notice of Pendency was filed at the commencement of the foreclosure action against the former homeowner. The Protecting Tenants At Foreclosure Act applied only to leases entered into before a notice of foreclosure was filed. The Notice of Pendency was the equivalent of a notice of foreclosure.

U.S. Bank NA v. Hurtado: NYLJ, 4/21/10, p. 29, col. 1 (Dist. Ct. Nassau; Fairgrieve, J)