Tenant Violated Court Agreement to Keep Apartment Clean

Landlord sued to evict tenant for nuisance based on unsanitary apartment conditions. Landlord and tenant signed a settlement agreement in court. Tenant agreed that he would keep his apartment clean or else be evicted. Later, tenant violated the agreement and the marshal delivered an eviction notice. Tenant asked the court to vacate the eviction notice, claiming that his breach of the agreement was unintentional. The court ruled for tenant. Landlord appealed and won. The eviction notice was reinstated. Tenant then appealed and lost. Tenant admitted that he was in the apartment when his dog defecated on the floor. Tenant claimed that he and his girlfriend were in another part of the apartment and in a hurry to catch a plane at the airport. So they left the apartment without being aware of the mess until they returned three weeks later. This was no excuse for violating his agreement to keep the apartment clean, especially since the settlement agreement called for "zero tolerance" and stated that no violations would be deemed minor. The eviction notice was reinstated.

565 Tenants Corp. v. Adams: NYLJ, 9/22/08, p. 27, col. 1 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Mazzarelli, JP, Andrias, Saxe, Friedman, Acosta, JJ)