Chili Venture LLC v. Stahl

54 Misc. 3d 461, 39 N.Y.S.3d 735
CourtRochester City Court
DecidedOctober 24, 2016
StatusPublished

This text of 54 Misc. 3d 461 (Chili Venture LLC v. Stahl) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Rochester City Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chili Venture LLC v. Stahl, 54 Misc. 3d 461, 39 N.Y.S.3d 735 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Ellen M. Yacknin, J.

Introduction

Plaintiff Chili Venture LLC has sued defendant Debra Stahl for $7,974.22 in money damages and legal fees associated with defendant’s rental of a unit in plaintiffs apartment complex in Chili, New York. The summons and complaint were served personally on defendant on April 27, 2016. Defendant has not answered the summons and complaint.

Plaintiff has now submitted an ex parte motion for entry of a default judgment against defendant that raises various claims for damages. Because defendant has failed to respond to plaintiffs complaint, the factual allegations regarding defendant’s liability are presumed to be true. Nonetheless, the court must analyze plaintiff’s various claims under applicable law.

To obtain a judgment against a defaulting defendant, a plaintiff must submit “the requisite proof” that it is entitled to the requested judgment. (CPLR 3215 [a].) Such proof must include proof of “the facts constituting the claim, the default and the amount due.” (CPLR 3215 [f].) To satisfy the factual proof requirements of CPLR 3215, a plaintiff must submit documentation demonstrating that “a viable cause of action exists.” (Woodson v Mendon Leasing Corp., 100 NY2d 62, 71 [2003]; see Walley v Leatherstocking Healthcare, LLC, 79 AD3d [463]*4631236, 1238 [3d Dept 2010].) The court’s legal analysis with respect to plaintiffs various claims is discussed below.

Factual Background

According to plaintiffs complaint and supporting documents, plaintiff and defendant signed a written lease for the rental of an apartment in plaintiffs apartment complex on April 15, 2010. At that time, defendant gave plaintiff a security deposit of $1,400. On February 21, 2014, plaintiff and defendant signed a lease renewal agreement for a one-year term from March 31, 2014 through March 31, 2015.

Plaintiff commenced a summary eviction proceeding in Chili Town Court against defendant for alleged nonpayment of rent on October 1, 2014. On October 16, 2014, the court granted plaintiffs petition to recover possession of the premises and issued a warrant of eviction against defendant, but did not award money damages because defendant was not personally served with the petition.1 Plaintiff now seeks entry of a default judgment against defendant in the amount of $7,149.22 for back rent, late fees, accelerated rent, gas and electric charges, and attorney’s fees.

October 2014 Rent and Late Fees

Pursuant to the parties’ February 21, 2014 lease renewal, defendant was required to pay $845 in monthly rent, plus a $40 pet fee by the first of every month. Plaintiff alleges that defendant failed to pay all but 340 of her October 2014 rent and pet fee. Accordingly, plaintiff is entitled to recover $884.66 for October 2014’s rent and pet fee from defendant.

Plaintiff seeks $106 for late fees related to defendant’s failure to pay October 2014 rent. The parties’ lease provides that the landlord is entitled to a late fee of $50 for monthly rent that is not paid by the third of the month, plus an additional $2 per day that the rent remains unpaid. The court finds that a monthly fee of more than $50 for late rent is unconscionable as a matter of law. (See Real Property Law § 235-c [1]; Spring Val. Gardens Assoc. v Earle, 112 Misc 2d 786, 787 [Rockland County Ct 1982]; Rock v Klepper, 23 Misc 3d 1103[A], 2009 NY Slip Op 50558[U], *6 [Plattsburgh City Ct 2009]; VP Vil. Park, LLC v Victor, 40 Misc 3d 1233[A], 2013 NY Slip Op 51418[U], *3-4 [464]*464[Pleasant Valley Just Ct 2013].) Accordingly, plaintiff is entitled to recover $50 for October 2014’s late fee.

Accelerated Rent

According to the parties’ lease, the tenant is required to pay all future rent due under the lease if the “Lease is canceled, or Landlord takes back the Apartment.” Whether defendant, an evicted tenant, is liable for future rent under the lease’s accelerated rent clause in her residential lease is the issue presented by plaintiff’s motion.

RPAPL 749 (3) provides that the issuance of a warrant of eviction “cancels the agreement under which the person removed held the premises, and annuls the relation [ship] [between the] landlord and tenant.” Stated differently, a judgment of eviction terminates a lease between a landlord and tenant as a matter of law. (See Matter of Lazy Acres Park, LLC v Ferretti, 118 AD3d 1406 [2014], lv denied 120 AD3d 1612 [4th Dept 2014], lv dismissed 25 NY3d 965 [2015]; Matter of First Citizens Natl. Bank v Koronowski, 46 AD3d 1474, 1475 [4th Dept 2007]; Weichert v O’Neill, 245 AD2d 1121 [4th Dept 1997].) For this reason, an evicted tenant is generally not liable for rent that would have been owed for the remainder of the lease’s term.

Plaintiff claims that it is nevertheless entitled to accelerated rent from defendant because the lease’s accelerated rent provision supersedes RPAPL 749 (3). In 1995, the Court of Appeals examined the enforceability of a commercial lease’s rent acceleration clause in the context of a commercial tenant that voluntarily abandoned the premises. In Holy Props, v Cole Prods. (87 NY2d 130 [1995]), the Court held that under these circumstances, a landlord has no duty to mitigate damages under a commercial lease’s rent acceleration clause.

In Rios v Carrillo (53 AD3d 111 [2d Dept 2008]), the Second Department clarified that the Holy Props, ruling extends in similar circumstances to rent acceleration clauses in residential leases. Specifically, in a case involving a residential tenant who voluntarily abandoned the premises, the Rios Court held that unless a surrender of the lease by operation of law had occurred, the landlord was entitled to enforce the lease’s rent acceleration clause without attempting to mitigate damages. (See Rios v Carrillo, 53 AD3d at 114.) However, because the lower court had not considered whether a surrender of the lease by operation of law, which would have terminated the parties’ lease obligations to each other, had taken place, the Rios Court remanded the case for the lower court to do so.

[465]*465A surrender of a lease by operation of law occurs “when the parties to a lease both do some act so inconsistent with the landlord-tenant relationship that it indicates their intent to deem the lease terminated.” (Riverside Research Inst. v KMGA, Inc., 68 NY2d 689, 691-692 [1986].) In this case, both parties manifestly acted inconsistently with their landlord-tenant relationship. Defendant failed to pay her rent. Plaintiff sought and obtained a court-ordered warrant of eviction against defendant. Under these circumstances, as the Second Department has held, “ ‘[t]he issuance of the warrant of eviction terminated any existing tenancy and annulled the landlord-tenant relationship by operation of law.’ ” (Frey v Rose, 51 AD3d 859, 861 [2d Dept 2008], citing Rocar Realty Northeast, Inc. v Jefferson Val. Mall Ltd. Partnership, 38 AD3d 744, 747 [2d Dept 2007]; see RPAPL 749 [3].)

The Rocar Realty Court held that a lease provision requiring the landlord to pay the tenant for improvements to the premises was nullified because the tenant’s eviction annulled the landlord-tenant relationship by operation of law. (See Rocar Realty, 38 AD3d at 747.) Similarly, the Frey v Rose

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Bluebook (online)
54 Misc. 3d 461, 39 N.Y.S.3d 735, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chili-venture-llc-v-stahl-nyroccityct-2016.