Toms Point Apartments v. Goudzward
| Decision Date | 05 December 1972 |
| Citation | 339 N.Y.S.2d 281,72 Misc.2d 629 |
| Parties | TOMS POINT APARTMENTS, Petitioner-Landlord, v. Jeanette GOUDZWARD, Respondent-Tenant. |
| Court | New York District Court |
This is a holdover proceeding in which the landlord-petitioner seeks possession of the demised premises. The tenant's defense is retaliatory eviction.
The basic facts are not in dispute. The parties entered into a lease on August 17, 1966, for a two-year period commencing September 1, 1966. The lease was renewed twice, each time for a two-year period. The last renewal expired August 31, 1972.
In October, 1971, the tenant invited a group of fellow tenants to meet in her apartment to consider the possibility of forming a tenant's organization to deal with the landlord with respect to several grievances.
In April, 1972, and again in June, 1972, the tenant was advised that her lease would not be further renewed. Despite notice tenant failed to vacate the premises. On the 5th day of October, 1972, this proceeding was begun.
At the trial, the tenant raised the affirmative defense of 'retaliatory eviction'. She claimed that the landlord's refusal to renew her lease was solely in retaliation for her actions with her fellow tenants in opposing the landlord. The landlord contends that the tenant has failed to sustain the burden of proof required and, further, that the defense of retaliatory eviction does not apply in this case.
Tenant seeks to dismiss the action and have the Court order the landlord to renew the lease on terms equal to those offered other tenants.
The Court has before it the question whether a landlord has the right to pick his tenants and refuse to renew the tenancy of a person he finds undesirable for any reason, or whether that right is affected by the defense of retaliatory eviction.
The defense of retaliatory eviction in New York State is a comparatively new one. Retaliatory eviction has been defined in many ways. In Markese v. Cooper, 70 Misc.2d 478, 333 N.Y.S.2d 63, the Court stated that retaliatory eviction is the nomenclature that has developed to define the action of a landlord who evicts his tenant because of the tenant's reporting of a housing code violation. The Court in that case went on to say that it might have been called anything, 'vengeful eviction' or, simply, 'getting even'. The Court in Hosey v. Club Van Cortlandt, D.C., 299 F.Supp. 501, described retaliatory eviction as an act by a landlord evicting a tenant when the overriding reason was to retaliate against the tenant for exercising his constitutional right.
The defense of retaliatory eviction in a holdover proceeding was not available at common law, nor do we in New York have any statutes specifically prohibiting retaliatory eviction. A few states have recently enacted such statutes. Illinois has declared it to be against public policy for a landlord to 'terminate or refuse to renew a lease or tenancy of property used as a residence on the ground that the tenant has complained to any government authority of a bona fide violation of any applicable building code, health ordinance, or similar regulation.' Ill. S.H.A. ch. 80, § 71 (1963). Rhode Island and Michigan allow a tenant-defendant, in an action based upon termination of a lease, to interpose the defense that the alleged termination was intended as a penalty for the tenant reporting a violation of any health or safety code, or any ordinance. Maryland has provided that retaliatory action will be stayed for a period of six months after a tenant has reported a major defect in the premises. California's new Civil Code Section 1942.5 states that a landlord, whose dominant purpose is retaliation against a lessee for complaining to a government agency or for exercising other rights, 'may not recover possession of a dwelling in any action or proceeding, cause the lessee to quit involuntarily, increase the rent, or decrease any services, within 60 days'. New Jersey provides for criminal punishment of any landlord who takes reprisals against a tenant for reporting violations of any health or building code. See: Legal Problems of Landlord & Tenant, University of California Law Review vol. 3, 1971, pp. 17, 18.
The cases in New York are not in complete agreement on the interpretation of retaliatory eviction. Some New York cases have recognized it as a proper defense in holdover proceedings. Church v. Allen Meadows Apartments, 69 Misc.2d 254, 329 N.Y.S.2d 148; Markese v. Cooper, 70 Misc.2d 478, 333 N.Y.S.2d 63. The Federal courts have also recognized the defense. The Court in Hosey v. Club Van Cortlandt, D.C., 299 F.Supp. 501, 506, held that 'The 14th amendment prohibits a state court from evicting a tenant when the overriding reason the landlord is seeking the eviction is to retaliate against the tenant for an exercise of his constitutional rights'. Also see Edwards v. Habib, 130 U.S.App.D.C. 126, 397 F.2d 687.
The tenant in her Memorandum of Law places great emphasis upon Hosey v. Club Van Cortlandt in support of her argument against granting the petition. She also requests an order by the Court for a mandatory renewal of the lease. The Court points out the fact that the judges' decision in the Hosey v. Club Van Cortlandt case wrote, 299 F.Supp. pg. 505, 'The right of a landlord to pick his tenants and to refuse to renew the tenancy of a person he finds undesirable for any reason is not in issue here'. The Court in the herein matter deems that issue to be the major issue.
The law in New York is well settled that in the absence of a covenant in the lease, or some agreement therefor, there is no way, legal or equitable, of compelling a renewal of a lease. Robinson v. Jewett, 116 N.Y. 40, 22 N.E. 224. Therefore, when the term of a lease...
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