Tenant Repeatedly Flooded Apartment Below

Landlord sued to evict tenant for creating a nuisance. At trial, tenant's downstairs neighbor testified that there were six to eight heavy floods from tenant's apartment between late 1997 and 2001. The neighbor also testified that there were constant small leaks, about twice a week, possibly coming from tenant's washing machine. The building super also testified that many leaks came from tenant's apartment, sometimes running down to the lobby. The super said that the heavy flooding was caused by removal of the toilet in tenant's apartment from its base. The super said that this couldn't have happened by itself. Both the downstairs neighbor and the super testified that tenant refused to cooperate or allow access to her apartment when these floods occurred. The super also credibly testified that he saw tenant's son and his girlfriend writing graffiti on building walls. The trial court ruled against landlord.
Landlord appealed and won. Repeated instances of flooding can constitute a nuisance, especially when tenant refuses to allow a landlord access to determine the source and make repairs. The trial court believed the witness testimony, but incorrectly determined that there was insufficient evidence of a nuisance.

17th Holding LLC v. Rivera: 2008 WL 4402258, Index No. 2007-920 QC (App. T. 2 Dept.; Pesce, PJ, Weston Patterson, Rios, JJ)