Tenant Didn't Prove Retaliatory Eviction

Landlord sued to evict month-to-month tenant in a two-family house. Tenant claimed retaliatory eviction. He claimed that landlord sought eviction because tenant had begun court action against landlord for injuries suffered when the stove exploded in the apartment. Tenant claimed landlord had also turned off the heat, hot water, and electricity at various times since then and that there were building code violations. The court ruled for landlord and found that the retaliatory eviction claim didn't apply in this case. Tenant appealed and lost. Landlord lived in the building, and the law excluded owner-occupied buildings with fewer than four apartments from retaliatory eviction claims. And tenant's case against landlord involved personal injuries, not the apartment's conditions.

Weil v. Kaplan: NYLJ, p. 32, col. 6 (10/30/97) (App. T. 2 Dept.; DiPaola, JP, Collins, Ingrassia, JJ)