Termination Notice in Chronic Nonpayment Case Not Defective

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant for chronic late payment and nonpayment of rent. Tenant claimed that landlord's termination notice was defective. The court ruled for tenant, finding that the notice didn't properly advise tenant of the reasons for eviction. Landlord appealed and won, and the case was reopened. Tenant hadn't raised the issue in her answer to landlord's petition. More importantly, the termination notice contained a detailed description of tenant's rent payment history, dating back to January 1994. The notice also stated that tenant's prior nonpayment had caused landlord substantial hardship and had forced landlord to bring numerous nonpayment proceedings. The fact that landlord's termination notice didn't specifically label tenant's rent defaults as a nuisance or directly refer to Rent Stabilization Code section 2524.3(b) didn't make the notice defective.

East End Residences v. Dolen: NYLJ, p. 27, col. 3 (4/14/97) (App. T. 1 Dept.; Ostrau, PJ, Freedman, Davis, JJ)