Tenant Can't Vacate Settlement Agreement

(Decision submitted by Jeffrey Turkel of the Manhattan law firm of Rosenberg & Estis, PC, attorneys for the landlord.) Tenant brought a court case to appeal a DHCR decision. Tenant and the DHCR signed an agreement in court settling the case. Tenant later asked the court to vacate the agreement, claiming that he was suffering from a ''mental disorder'' at the time he signed it. The court and appeals court ruled against tenant. Tenant didn't prove that he was suffering from an incapacitating condition. He presented only a letter from his psychiatrist, who stated that he hadn't seen tenant in over a year and that, while tenant may suffer from stress, he didn't generally appear to be confused. Tenant also had been represented by an attorney in court, and he had stated to the court's referee that he understood the settlement agreement.

Dinnerstein v. DHCR: NYLJ, p. 29, col. 2 (1/14/99) (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Sullivan, JP, Lerner, Mazzarelli, Saxe, JJ)