No Notice Needed Before Acceleration of Eviction Warrant

Landlord sued to evict tenant for nonpayment of rent. Landlord and tenant signed a settlement agreement in court. A judgment of possession was entered for landlord, and an eviction warrant was issued but delayed for five months to allow tenant to make monthly installment payments of $500 each. The agreement stated that “Upon default in the making of any of the payments required herein warrant may execute.” Tenant later asked the court to set aside the judgment and eviction warrant because he received no notice that landlord sought to accelerate execution of the eviction warrant. The court ruled against tenant. Nothing in the settlement agreement required landlord to give tenant prior notice before executing the warrant for noncompliance. Tenant had defaulted on payments required under the settlement agreement. And both sides were represented by attorneys. The settlement agreement wasn’t unreasonable. And the fact that tenant had now filed for bankruptcy didn’t stay the eviction, because the judgment and eviction were validly entered before tenant filed his bankruptcy application.

Santodonato v. Voelker: NYLJ, 4/23/08, p. 28, col. 1 (Dist. Ct. Nassau; Fairgrieve, J)