New Trial Required on Tenant's Claims

February 1, 1995

LVT Number: 9487

Landlord sued to evict tenant for nonpayment of rent. Tenant claimed a breach of the warranty of habitability due to roach infestation, lack of hot water, and peeling paint. The court awarded tenant a rent abatement of $5,000. Landlord appealed, claiming that conditions in the apartment didn't warrant the award. The appeals court ordered a new trial. The trial court hadn't specified which rent-impairing conditions warranted the abatement, how long they'd lasted, or how it had arrived at the $5,000 abatement figure.

Landlord sued to evict tenant for nonpayment of rent. Tenant claimed a breach of the warranty of habitability due to roach infestation, lack of hot water, and peeling paint. The court awarded tenant a rent abatement of $5,000. Landlord appealed, claiming that conditions in the apartment didn't warrant the award. The appeals court ordered a new trial. The trial court hadn't specified which rent-impairing conditions warranted the abatement, how long they'd lasted, or how it had arrived at the $5,000 abatement figure. Also, a new trial was needed to decide tenant's habitability claim because landlord and tenant disagreed on the conditions in the apartment and the adequacy of landlord's efforts to repair the defects.

40 Central Park South, Inc. v. Rosenshein: NYLJ, p. 29, col. 1 (1/13/95) (App. T. 1 Dept.; Ostrau, JP, Miller, McCooe, JJ)

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