No Back Rent for Months When No Lease Was in Effect

July 31, 2000

LVT Number: 14313

Landlord sued tenant to collect back rent for a long period between 1983 and 1996. The court ruled against landlord in part, denying any back rent payment for the period between 1983 and 1991, when no lease was in effect. Landlord appealed and lost. In 1983, the CAB had ordered landlord to give tenant a rent-stabilized lease. Landlord didn't do so until 1991 and refused to accept the legal rent from tenant during that period. Landlord claimed that under the Rent Stabilization Code, his failure to give tenant a renewal lease as directed didn't bar the collection of rent.

Landlord sued tenant to collect back rent for a long period between 1983 and 1996. The court ruled against landlord in part, denying any back rent payment for the period between 1983 and 1991, when no lease was in effect. Landlord appealed and lost. In 1983, the CAB had ordered landlord to give tenant a rent-stabilized lease. Landlord didn't do so until 1991 and refused to accept the legal rent from tenant during that period. Landlord claimed that under the Rent Stabilization Code, his failure to give tenant a renewal lease as directed didn't bar the collection of rent. But the Code only states that the failure to offer a renewal lease won't deprive tenants of any rights that they might have had under a prior lease. The Code provision doesn't apply to landlords.

Haberman v. Singer: NYLJ, 7/3/00, p. 23, col. 5 (App. Div.1 Dept.; Williams, JP, Tom, Ellerin, Andrias, Saxe, JJ)

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