Portions of Lease Declared Invalid

Landlord sued to evict tenant for nonpayment of rent. Tenant claimed that his six-month lease was invalid and that he had properly given landlord 30 days' notice on March 31 that he was ending his month-to-month tenancy on April 30. The court ruled for tenant in part, finding that portions of tenant's lease were unreasonable. The court declared that several lease clauses were invalid, including one calling for a late fee of $20 per day after the first of the month and one allowing landlord to apply tenant's security deposit to ''liquidated damages.'' But the six-month term of the lease wasn't unreasonable, and tenant had agreed to it. So it didn't matter whether tenant had given landlord 30 days' notice before moving out. Tenant owed landlord rent for the month of May since his lease was still in effect and landlord couldn't show any harm beyond the loss of one month's rent.

DiPillo v. Toro: NYLJ, p. 30, col. 4 (7/1/98) (Justice Ct. Ossining; Shapiro, J)