Novick v. Hall

70 Misc. 2d 641, 334 N.Y.S.2d 698, 1972 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1912
CourtCivil Court of the City of New York
DecidedMay 10, 1972
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 70 Misc. 2d 641 (Novick v. Hall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Civil Court of the City of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Novick v. Hall, 70 Misc. 2d 641, 334 N.Y.S.2d 698, 1972 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1912 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1972).

Opinion

Allen Murray Myers, J.

In this summary proceeding to dispossess the tenant for nonpayment of rent a judgment in favor of the landlord was entered upon consent on September 27, 1971. The rent demanded in the petition was $249.90, the tenant paid $150 on account in open court and the judgment provided for the payment of the balance which was rounded off to $100. By consent the issuance of the warrant of eviction was stayed to October 2, 1971. Tenant was represented at the time by an attorney from the Legal Aid Society.

A warrant of eviction was issued to a Marshal on October 14 who mailed a 72-hour notice of eviction to the tenant on [642]*642October 21. While the tenant was not on relief, being without funds with which to meet her obligation under the judgment she applied to the Department of Social Services for the financial aid necessary to prevent her eviction. It is not clear when this aid was requested, but on October 22 the Department of Social Services issued its check payable to the tenant and landlord for $237.50 (to pay for the tenant’s arrears, current rent and costs) which the tenant tendered to the landlord on October 23. The landlord refused to accept it and insisted upon proceeding with the tenant’s eviction.

The tenant then moved to vacate the warrant. That motion was denied by order of this court dated November 3, 1971. Thereafter the tenant changed attorneys and moved for reargument and that motion is now before the court.

The tenant occupies a five-room apartment together with her four children aged 17, 15, 13 and 8 and a grandchild.

Her monthly rent is $106.96. She has been residing in the same building for the past 11 years. Her tenancy is subject to rent control which statute provides that she may not be evicted so long as she continues to pay the rent. (Administrative Code of City of New York, § Y51-6.0.) In the current housing shortage it would be almost impossible for the tenant to find similar housing accommodations at or near the same rental. To deprive the tenant of her abode would therefore result in a grave hardship for a rather trivial fault, if in fact there was any. The tenant begs this court not to invoke this lawful penalty.

The landlord argues that the court has no choice. His argument is based on several grounds. Once a warrant of eviction is issued, the landlord-tenant relationship is terminated and the landlord cannot be compelled thereafter to accept the rent (Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law, § 749, subd. 3; Matter of Kingsview Homes v. Pette, 9 A D 2d 782; Wassel v. Reimer, 119 N. Y. S. 2d 33; Hendricks v. Ergis, 66 N. Y. S. 2d 349); and that this court is divested of power to vacate or extend a stay after a warrant has been issued (Matter of Elcock v. Boccia, 12 Misc 2d 955).

The landlord is in error. As the Appellate Term in this Judicial Department has held in the case of 203 E. 13th St. Corp. v. Lechycky, N. Y. L. J., June 25, 1971, p. 13, col. 1: “A summary proceeding remains pending until the execution of the warrant (Whitmarsh v. Farnell, 298 N. Y. 336, 344). While the proceeding is pending, the warrants may be stayed under CPLR 2201.

[643]*643“ The earlier decisions, which held that a warrant, once it has been issued, could not be stayed except by an appellate court or by injunction, unless the final order had been rendered on default, were based upon sections 1446 and 1447 of the Civil Practice Act. These sections were omitted from the CPLR and from the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law.

“ With the repeal of these sections and under CPLR section 2201, the court below may stay its proceedings in a proper case upon .such terms as may be just.

“While the court below stated that he would have liked to grant tenants relief, he held that' he was without jurisdiction to do so, since the warrant had already been issued. This was error.”

As stated by my former colleague Judge Gbeeneield, now a Justice of the Supreme Court, in the case of Matter of Joseph v. Cheeseboro (42 Misc 2d 917, 921-922, revd. on other grounds 43 Misc 2d 702): “courts retain (ed) inherent power to set aside its final judgments or orders, in the interests of justice, and the writs, warrants and levies dependent thereon. # # #

“ The pendency of summary proceedings so that the court may continue to act as justice requires even after issuance of the warrant is not terminated by virtue of the provisions of section 749 of the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law, which declares that the issuance of a warrant annuls the relation of landlord and tenant. # * * As held in Matter of Walker v. Ribotsky (275 App. Div. 112 [1st Dept., 1949]), the proceeding is deemed pending until the warrant is executed, so whether or not the landlord-tenant relationship may have been technically annulled, it is subject to revival.

“It would therefore appear that where no appeal has been taken, and when a warrant of eviction issued after final order for the landlord remains unexecuted, this court retains jurisdiction to extend any stay, to vacate the pending warrant, to hold further hearings, or do whatever may be required within the confines of the law. ’ ’

This court then has the power to vacate its warrant in the interests of justice. The question is, should it? What are the equities? At the outset let it be noted that unlike the factual patterns in Joseph v. Cheeseboro (supra) and in Matter of Albany v. White (46 Misc 2d 915) the landlord here cannot be charged with fraud, overreaching or any wrongdoing. He is merely invoking what he believes to be the rights to which he [644]*644is legally entitled. He argues that he is entitled to the possession of the tenant’s apartment because she has failed to pay or tender the rent before the warrant was issued. He compares the tenant’s failure to pay the rent before issuance of the warrant to a mortgagor’s failure to pay interest when due and cites Graf v. Hope Bldg. Corp. (254 N. Y. 1, 4) that generosity is a voluntary attribute and cannot be enforced even by a chancellor.” However, the situation in Graf (supra) is not analogous, but what is apt is the observation of Chief Judge Cabdozo in the dissent that “ always the gravity of the fault must be compared with the gravity of the hardship.” (Graf, supra, p. 13).

In this case the landlord was in the same position before the warrant was issued as he was after it was issued. He would suffer no hardship by being compelled to accept the rent after the warrant was issued but before it was executed. The short delay in the offer of the rent was not deliberate on the part of the tenant. Under such circumstances the courts favor solutions which would avoid grave hardship for one óf the litigants without harm or prejudice to the other. (Sy Jack Realty v. Pergament Syosset Corp., 27 N Y 2d 449; Jones v. Gianferante, 305 N. Y. 135.) In this case however one does not even have to invoke equitable principles to bring about a just result (although this court does have that power under section 212 of CCA). Where, as here, the tenant’s premises are subject to rent control, the tenant can effect a stay of eviction by tendering the rent and costs due at any time prior to the actual execution of the warrant. (Whitmarsh v. Farnell, 298 N. Y.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
70 Misc. 2d 641, 334 N.Y.S.2d 698, 1972 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1912, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/novick-v-hall-nycivct-1972.