Tenant Restored to Possession

Facts: Landlord sued to evict tenant for nonpayment of rent. Landlord claimed that tenant owed rent from January 2002 through August 2003 totaling $9,900. Tenant claimed that she had paid most of this rent. Landlord and tenant signed a settlement agreement in court. The agreement gave landlord a judgment for $1,540. The court delayed eviction for two months to give tenant time to pay. Tenant later was evicted. That day, tenant asked the court to restore her to possession. She claimed that she had mailed payment to landlord, as instructed. The court ruled against tenant, and tenant appealed. Court: Tenant wins. When tenant asked the court to be restored to possession, she submitted a sworn statement that she had mailed landlord the back rent due. Landlord submitted no written opposition. Instead, landlord's managing agent made an unsworn oral claim that he hadn't received the money. So the court had no proper grounds for determining credibility. Tenant owed very little back rent at the time of eviction. And tenant showed that landlord had made incorrect claims of unpaid rent against other tenants. Tenant was rent stabilized and had paid rent on time for 16 years before this incident. Landlord was ordered to restore tenant to possession.

Hegeman Asset LLC v. Smith: NYLJ, 7/6/04, p. 28, col. 4 (App. T. 2 Dept.; Pesce, PJ, Golia, Rios, JJ)