No Landlord-Tenant Relationship

Buyer signed a 30-year installment contract to buy a piece of property in Mt. Vernon. The contract provided that seller would continue to own the property until all the installment payments had been made. Buyer never moved in, but made monthly payments on the contract. Buyer then assigned the contract to another person, who didn't move in either. When the new buyer didn't make the installment payments, seller sued him for nonpayment of rent, claiming that the contract had created a landlord-tenant relationship. Seller argued that the terms of the contract called the monthly installment payments ''rent,'' and the relationship between buyer and seller ''landlord and tenant.'' Buyer claimed that he wasn't a tenant because he'd never moved in, and that seller's only remedy was to bring a foreclosure action. The court dismissed the case. Seller can only sue as landlord for nonpayment if the sale is completed within 90 days after the sales contract was signed. Since this was a 30-year contract, no landlord-tenant relationship was created.

Administrator of Veterans Affairs v. Whyte: NYLJ, p. 30, col. 6 (9/16/94) (City Ct. Mt. Vernon; Zambelli, J)