Nonpayment Case Dismissed Because No Lease in Effect When Case Commenced
LVT Number: #33481
Landlord sued to evict unregulated tenant for nonpayment of rent in April 2024. Landlord claimed that the last rental agreement was made with tenant on Feb. 5, 2023, and that tenant owed back rent for the period between December 2023 and March 2024. Tenant claimed that there was no agreement to pay rent in effect when the proceeding commenced because tenant's last lease expired in February 2024. He asked the court to dismiss the case.
The court ruled for tenant. Assuming that a month-to-month tenancy was created upon the expiration of the parties' lease, the failure by landlord to plead the nature of the parties' rental agreement in the petition was a material omission that warranted dismissal in the absence of a motion to amend the petition. But even if the court allowed landlord to amend its petition, the mere tender of third-party HRA shelter payments following lease expiration, in the absence of a more definite agreement to pay rent for any ensuing months, was insufficient to create an ongoing rental agreement for the purpose of a nonpayment proceeding under RPAPL Section 711(2).
Hess v. Pinillos: Index No. L&T 305772-24; 2024 NY Slip Op 33998(U); NYLJ No. 1731539964 (Civ. Ct. Queens; 11/1/24; Schiff, J)