Tenant Can Appeal Ruling That She Violated Settlement Agreement

Landlord sued to evict tenant. Landlord and tenant signed a settlement agreement in court. Landlord later asked the court to restore the case to the calendar and to issue an eviction warrant and a money judgment for $25,000 based on tenant's failure to comply with the agreement. The court ruled for landlord. Tenant appealed and lost because the appeals court found that she defaulted by not opposing landlord's request to restore the case to the court calendar. Tenant then appealed to a higher court, which found that the appeals court had made a mistake. That court reversed and sent the case back to the appeals court for review on the merits. Tenant did appear in housing court and opposed landlord's motion orally. And the housing court decision doesn't state that tenant defaulted. So tenant was entitled to pursue her appeal of the housing court decision.

144 Stuyvesant, LLC v. Goncalves: 119 A.D.3d 695, 2014 NY Slip Op 05189 (App. Div. 2 Dept.; 7/9/14; Skelos, JP, Dickerson, Cohen, Duffy, JJ)