Tenant Can Be Evicted for Daughter's Drug Offenses

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant for illegal use of the apartment after tenant's adult daughter was arrested in the apartment for significant drug offenses. Landlord and tenant signed a settlement agreement in court. The agreement gave landlord a judgment of possession and issuance of an eviction warrant. Execution of the warrant was stayed for a probationary period. During that time, if tenant's daughter visited or was seen in the apartment, landlord could go forward with the eviction if it sent a notice of default with a confirming statement by the district attorney (DA).
Later, landlord sent tenant's attorney a notice of default, with a statement from the DA that tenant's daughter had entered the apartment twice during the probation period. Tenant asked the court to delay the eviction. She argued that the settlement agreement required her only to use her "best efforts" to keep her daughter out of the building. The court ruled for tenant.
Landlord appealed and won. The "best efforts" provision didn't change the documented breach of the settlement agreement. The agreement stated that, if the daughter entered the building, a hearing would be required on whether tenant violated the agreement. But under the terms of the agreement, tenant was not allowed to let the daughter into the apartment. Landlord proved that tenant substantially violated this part of the agreement, and the agreement called for eviction under these circumstances without further hearing.

Welcome Realty v. Arnold: NYLJ, 11/24/09, p. 32, col. 1 (App. T. 1 Dept.; McKeon, PJ, Shulman, Hunter, JJ)