Tenant Violated Settlement Agreement by Paying Rent Late

(Decision submitted by Sabrina B. Kraus of the Manhattan law firm of Borah, Goldstein, Altschuler, Schwartz & Nahins, PC, attorneys for the landlord.) Landlord sued to evict tenant for chronic nonpayment of rent. Landlord and tenant signed a settlement agreement in court. Landlord agreed to give tenant a 12-month probation period during which tenant agreed to pay rent on time. Under the agreement, landlord got a judgment of possession, and an eviction warrant was issued. If tenant twice paid rent late, landlord could ask the court for permission to execute the eviction warrant. Tenant defaulted on two payments, and landlord asked for permission to evict. The court ruled against landlord. Landlord appealed and won. Although the lower court found tenant's breach to be minor, given past payments, the terms of the settlement agreement clearly required eviction after two rent payment defaults. And tenant didn't have a good excuse for his late payments. He claimed that he overlooked the rent due dates because of medical conditions of two family members who didn't live with him.

Kalimian v. Cutarella: NYLJ, 5/23/03, p. 18, col. 2 (App. T. 1 Dept.; Suarez, PJ, McCooe, Schoenfeld, JJ)