Rifati LLC v Montemarano

[*1] Rifati LLC v Montemarano 2007 NY Slip Op 50690(U) [15 Misc 3d 133(A)] Decided on April 3, 2007 Appellate Term, Second Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and will not be published in the printed Official Reports.

Decided on April 3, 2007
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
APPELLATE TERM: 2nd and 11th JUDICIAL DISTRICTS
PRESENT:: PESCE, P.J., WESTON PATTERSON and RIOS, JJ
2005-1629 K C.

Rifati LLC, Respondent,

against

Sally Montemarano, Appellant.

Appeal from a final judgment of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County (Thomas M. Fitzpatrick, J.), entered January 5, 2005. The final judgment, after a nonjury trial, awarded landlord possession and the sum of $4,200 in a nonpayment summary proceeding.

Final judgment affirmed without costs.

In this nonpayment proceeding seeking to recover rent owed for a rent-stabilized apartment, tenant asserted a claim of harassment in her answer as her only defense. At trial, tenant acknowledged that she owed the ten months of rental arrears claimed by landlord. Although the court entertained tenant's narrative testimony with respect to her harassment claim, it properly awarded judgment to landlord. New York does not recognize a common-law cause of action for harassment (Edelstein v Farber, 27 AD3d 202 [2006]), and the claim does not constitute a defense to a nonpayment proceeding. As stated in Edelstein, "the proper remedy for a violation of the prohibition against harassment in Rent Stabilization Code (9 NYCRR) § 2525.5 is a complaint to the Division of Housing and Community Renewal" (id. at 202). Since tenant admitted owing the rental arrears claimed by landlord and since she did not offer a valid defense to the nonpayment petition, the final judgment is affirmed.

Pesce, P.J., Weston Patterson and Rios, JJ., concur.
Decision Date: April 03, 2007