Giampaolo v. Anatra

191 Misc. 999, 80 N.Y.S.2d 140, 1948 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2506
City of New York Municipal Court·Decided March 29, 1948·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

Martuscello, J.

This is a summary proceeding against a tenant from month to month for nonpayment of increased rent alleged to have become due March 1,1948. It is undisputed that [1000] the Office of Housing Expediter, by an order dated and effective December 19, 1947, had duly increased, said tenant’s maximum rent from $24 to $41, and that in pursuance thereof, the landlord, by a writing personally served on the tenant on January 23, 1948, notified him that his rent would be $41 beginning March 1, 1948. Said writing, however, contained no notice to quit; and the tenant contends that the landlord should, have served on him a thirty days’ notice of termination of his tenancy as provided in section 232-a of the Real Property Law, and that in the absence thereof he was not obligated to pay the rent demanded. The question presented is whether the giving of such notice is necessary before a landlord becomes entitled to demand an authorized- increased rent in view of the suspension of his possessory remedies under the Housing and Rent Act of 1947. (U. S. Code, tit. 50, Appendix, § 1881 et seq.)

I have been unable to find any ruling in any case reported since Congress enacted the various emergency acts that is decisive of this question. The point, however, is not novel and was raised during the pendency of the so-called Emergency Rent Laws of 1920, which also provided for the suspension of a landlord’s possessory remedies under certain circumstances, but the decisions thereon were not in accord. It may be added by way of passing that section 232-a of the Real Property Law is derived from chapter 209 of the Laws of 1920, and was part of the general housing legislation passed in said year.

In Rogan v. Weiss (115 Misc. 193) the landlord’s complaint to recover the rental value of premises pursuant to the provisions of the afore-mentioned rent laws had been dismissed on ground that he failed to serve on the tenant the notice to quit specified in chapter 209 of the Laws of 1920; and the Appellate Term of the First Department, viewing the question presented to it from a realistic and practical standpoint, reversed said dismissal and ruled (pp. 194-195): “ it would be unreasonable to hold that the legislature intended that before bringing an action against a monthly tenant * * * the landlord must serve upon the tenant a notice stating ‘ unless the tenant removes from said premises on the day on which his term expires, the landlord will commence summary proceedings under the statute to remove such tenant therefrom, ’ when the legislature itself has expressly declared that for a limited period the landlord shall have no right to commence such summary proceedings.”

Subsequently, a contrary ruling was enunciated by the Appellate Division of the Second Department in the case of A. & S. Construction Co. v. Brock (201 App. Div. 584). In that case the [1001] landlord had given a two weeks’ notice of increase in rent and the question therein posed was whether a landlord could increase the rent of a tenant whose tenure was protected by the rent laws of 1920, without giving thirty days’ notice that the tenant must surrender or pay the increased rent. After stating the purpose and origin of afore-mentioned chapter 209 of the Laws of 1920, said court held (pp. 585-586):

“Asa consequence of these laws a monthly tenant or a tenant from month to month was secure in the possession of the premises for another month unless he received thirty days’ notice to quit.
“ Chapter 944 of the Laws of 1920, sections 5 and 6, provides in substance that in an action for rent or for use and occupation a judgment rendered for plaintiff shall contain a provision that if the rent is not paid within five days a warrant shall issue to remove the tenant from the premises.
“ If the landlord may increase the tenant’s rent by serving on him a notice of less than thirty days before the termination of the tenancy, he could then, under the provisions of chapter 944 of the Laws of 1920, obtain a judgment for the increased rent, and if the judgment is not paid within five days he is entitled to a warrant to dispossess the tenant. Such a result would pro tanto nullify the provisions of chapter 209 of the Laws of 1920, which entitles the tenant to continue in possession unless a thirty days’ notice of the landlord’s intention to terminate the lease is given. * * * a construction of these statutes leads to the conclusion that a tenant whose possession is protected by the Bent Laws cannot be removed in any manner, even by increase of rent, without the thirty days’ notice.”

Although the Appellate Term of this Department, by way of dictum, in Weed v. Carswell (117 Misc. 542), expressed views similar to those contained in the last-cited case, it had held previously thereto in Rosenberg v. Radish (191 N. Y. S. 701) that a tenant from month to month, upon whom had been served a thirty days’ notice of increase in rent, by remaining in possession, acquiesced in the said increase, and, by implication, agreed to pay the increased rent, and that a notice of increase in rent must equal in length of time the notice required in a notice to quit. This previous ruling was distinguished in Weed v. Carswell (supra) by the statement that it was made prior to the enactment of the aforesaid emergency rent laws.

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Giampaolo v. Anatra, 191 Misc. 999, 80 N.Y.S.2d 140, 1948 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2506 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1948).

191 Misc. 999 (Giampaolo v. Anatra) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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