Tenant's Chronic Nonpayment of Rent Didn't Constitute Nuisance

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant for nuisance, claiming that tenant intentionally chronically failed to pay rent in a timely manner in order to harass landlord. This was a violation of Rent Stabilization Code Section 2524.3(b). The court ruled against landlord after a trial. Landlord failed to prove there were any aggravating circumstances or any harm suffered, other than having to start six prior nonpayment proceedings. Two of these cases were started in 2009, before landlord formally recognized tenant’s succession rights claim. So, at that time, tenant had no obligation to pay rent. Landlord also didn’t prove that tenant’s failure to pay rent was intentional. Tenant was a single parent with two daughters, one of whom had a debilitating disease, suffered herself from addiction, and often had to seek financial assistance from DSS.

559 Apartments LLC v. Caver: 49 Misc.3d 1214(A), 2015 NY Slip Op 51636(U) (Civ. Ct. NY; 11/13/15; Kraus, J)