Section 8 Termination Notice Sent Six Months in Advance Enforceable

Facts: Landlord sent tenant and the Section 8 administrator notice that it would end participation in the Section 8 program at the end of tenant's lease, which was six months later. Landlord then sent tenant a lease renewal notice, which was silent as to whether the renewal lease was subject to Section 8. At first, tenant said she wouldn't renew, then she changed her mind. Landlord renewed tenant's lease and began charging her the full rent. When tenant didn't pay, landlord sued to evict tenant for nonpayment of rent. Tenant asked the court to dismiss the case. She claimed that: a) landlord couldn't terminate its Section 8 participation without tenant's consent; b) landlord's notice of Section 8 termination was sent too far in advance of tenant's lease expiration and was unenforceable; and c) landlord's renewal notice didn't point out that tenant was no longer subject to Section 8. Court: Tenant loses. First, landlord can terminate its Section 8 participation at the end of a lease term without tenant's consent. Second, the ETPA requires landlord to send tenant a lease renewal notice between 120 and 90 days before tenant's lease ends. But there is no law or regulation requiring landlord to send notice of Section 8 termination within a certain period. And landlord wasn't required to say anything about Section 8 in the renewal notice after clearly notifying tenant that it was terminating Section 8 participation. There was no proof that landlord sought to mislead or deceive tenant.

Mayco LLC v. Boreland: NYLJ, 1/28/04, p. 20, col. 4 (City Ct. Westchester; Colangelo, J)