Tenant Evicted for Excessive Apartment Clutter

Landlord sued to evict tenant for creating a nuisance based on a cluttered apartment condition. The parties signed a settlement agreement in court. Tenant was later evicted after failing to cure the condition. The court granted tenant’s request to be restored to possession post-eviction. Landlord appealed and won. Tenant was legally evicted after he defaulted on his agreement to cure the clutter condition and showed no grounds to be restored to the apartment. Tenant didn’t agree only to cure the “C” violation placed on the apartment but to cure the underlying “Collyer” condition resulting from excessive clutter and to keep the apartment free of debris. At the time of eviction, landlord removed 375 cartons and 50 huge garbage bags from the apartment. This shouldn’t be interpreted as a “cure.”

BLDG Management Co., Inc. v. Firstenberg: 2015 NY Slip Op 51688(U), 2015 WL 7470695 (App. T. 1 Dept.; 11/24/15; Schoenfeld, JP, Shulman, Hunter Jr., JJ)