Tenant Gets Chance to Sign and Return Renewal Lease

Landlord sued to evict tenant based on tenant's failure to sign and return a renewal lease. Tenant claimed she never received the renewal lease from landlord, but landlord proved it had been sent. The court ruled for landlord but delayed issuance of an eviction warrant to give tenant a chance to sign and return the renewal lease. The court ruled that tenant had 10 days to sign and return the renewal lease after landlord sent tenant a copy of the court's judgment. Landlord appealed, claiming that tenant had no right to sign and return the renewal lease at this point. The appeals court ruled against landlord. RPAPL section 753(4) gives tenant a right to correct her failure to renew within 10 days. The law doesn't state when the time to correct begins, except that it must be at the end of the summary proceeding. The trial court might have been wrong to start the 10 days from the date of mailing of a copy of the judgment to tenant. But landlord never gave tenant a new copy of the renewal lease at that point as asked, so it didn't matter.

Emil Friedman Washington Avenue LLC v. Young: NYLJ, p. 26, col. 3 (7/16/98) (App. T. 2 Dept.; Scholnick, JP, Aronin, Patterson, JJ)