Tenant's Use and Occupancy Payments Limited by HSTPA

Landlord sued to evict tenant, based on claimed illegal conversion of the apartment by tenant's installation of partitions and creating added rooms in the unit. Landlord asked the court to direct tenant to pay monthly use and occupancy, noting tenant hadn't paid rent since July 2019. Tenant's attorney argued that tenant was in China and couldn't return at this time since he was in poor health and had suffered a heart attack. He said that tenant's family couldn't subsidize tenant's rent and that u&o payments therefore would cause tenant undue hardship. Landlord argued that tenant was profiteering by renting spaces created by the illegal partitions. The court ruled for landlord in part. Although landlord was entitled to u&o, HSTPA constraints limited ordering tenant to pay landlord 30 percent of his fixed income from January 2021 forward while the case was pending. Landlord hadn't asked for retroactive u&o, so none was granted.

B.K. & C Realty v. Poon: Index No. 64677/2019, NYLJ No. 1609880245 (Civ. Ct. NY; 12/21/20; Katz, J)