Tenant Restored to Possession Pending Appeal

Landlord sued to evict tenant for nonpayment of rent. The court ruled for landlord based on tenant's failure to appear in court. Tenant was evicted. Tenant then asked the court to be restored to possession. She claimed that she had no notice of the case prior to eviction. She said her mailbox had been broken into on several occasions and that she had made partial payments. She also claimed that landlord had collected a rent overcharge. The court ruled against tenant. Tenant appealed and asked the appeals court to restore her to possession pending the court's ruling on her case. The appeals court granted tenant's request on the condition that she pay landlord $2,400 in back rent within 15 days. Tenant showed she might have a reasonable excuse for default. She documented her complaints to the post office about stolen mail. And tenant showed that she had defenses to the nonpayment claim. She said that landlord improperly calculated an MCI rent hike, that landlord demanded November 2003 rent after agreeing in a prior case that this rent was paid, and tenant paid rent for January and February 2004 before the eviction warrant was issued.

Western Estates LLC v. Roberts: NYLJ, 7/26/04, p. 27, col. 5 (App. T. 2 Dept.; Pesce, PJ, Aronin, Patterson, JJ)