Unusual Court Complications

[NODEAL]

INTRODUCTION

I am a rent-stabilized tenant.

My landlord (LL) took me to Civil L&T Court seeking Rent Arrears.
After five adjournments (all due to the LL) he finally
“dismissed the case without prejudice”. [early August 2007]

He did so because, he had also countersued me in Small Claims
for the same Rent Arrears and that trial was about to come up
(later than the L&T trial). So, the L&T Court refused to hear the case for Rent Arrears as it would also be heard later in Small Claims.

We finally get to Small Claims (on the later date) and the LL drops the counterclaim for Rent Arrears. [late August 2007.]

I’m not sure why he chose to do so, however he stated that he shall
re-file the Rent Arrears claim in L&T. [I suppose in September 2007.]

-----

As a note, the LL had refused to accept my payment
(of the base rent plus the latest RGB increase permitted)
throughout the entire duration of this saga as he was insisting on
a higher rent payment that I deemed to be an overcharge.
I had filed an Overcharge Complaint with DHCR early on and in it
I state clearly that the LL is refusing to accept the base rent plus
RGB increase payment. (Consequently, the DHCR Decision on the Overcharge Complaint informs the LL that he can not apply
retroactive rent increases affirming my position.)

Finally, a few days ago, after he dropped both of his claims
(as stated above), he decided to accept a payment from me
(that I privately offered under no direction whatsoever from the court)
for about 85% of the amount that he is seeking. This 85% is not quite
the equivalent of the base rent owed, however, I am seeking
a rent abatement based on decreased sevices and open violations
going forward and that factored into my decision to offer
the 85% payment.

I wanted to finaly get this payment made to the landlord so as to demonstrate to the court (should we go to court again) that
I am not “holding out on the rent” under some ill intent.

(This is all a true story and it has occured exactly as descibed above.)


QUESTION

I’m really becoming annoyed with this crap.
Is the landlord permitted to keep doing this forever?

Can he just keep on filing claims against me (for the same thing)
and do I just have to keep on showing up in court?

In my view, he royally screwed up in his actions against me based upon his irresponsible legal handling of his quest.

I haven’t lost any wages though I’ve consumed many
Sick Days and Vacation Days to satisfy court appearances.
My only financial loss has been subway fair really.

There must be some recourse for me to prevent this thing from continuing endlessly without consequesnces for the landlord.

This would now be the third case in which he would be seeking
Rent Arrears (although he actually refused to accept money
throughout the entirity of the first two cases!)

Can the term ‘harassment’ come into the picture here?
How about some monetary compensation for me or some kind of monetary penalty applied to the landlord better yet?

This jack-ass shouldn't be allowed to keep getting away with
such irresponsible behavior that affects his tenant.

[elderlytenant]

Can the term ‘harassment’ come into the picture here?
How about some monetary compensation for me or some kind of monetary penalty applied to the landlord better yet?

I believe repetitious actual litigation does qualify for harassment complaint with the special unit setup at DHCR. I do not subscribe to the view that filing complaints with DHCR’s special unit to handle harassment complaints is always futile. Issues are so complex that if the complaint is not clearly drafted, most get trashed. I wish some compensation was available through small claims court for days lost in suites filed by landlord which he did not attend on several scheduled days and subsequently withdrew. If the tenant fails to attend, the judgement is automatically entered against him. If the landlord fails to attend for suit filed by him, why not the suit is dismissed, and tenant automatically awarded compensation for the day lost in attending the court?

[cardinalfang]

CPLR 3217 (c) provides:

(c) Effect of discontinuance. Unless otherwise stated in the notice, stipulation or order of discontinuance, the discontinuance is without prejudice, except that a discontinuance by means of notice operates as an adjudication on the merits if the party has once before discontinued by any method an action based on or including the same cause of action in a court of any state or the United States.

You might therefore argue that the new case is precluded as a result of the two prior discontinuances of the same claim.

[Emeraldstar]

Hi All
I agree with elderlytenant. Do a time line listing the chain of events, it may present a very clear pic on retaliation which is harassment. Keep each segment short & to the point. Have copies of dated supporting documentation.
I do think that you have lost wages in that your vacation days at the very least should have been used for your personal enjoyment. The LL is playing hard ball and this is one of the tactics. It's a way to break you down and place you in such a funk that you'll become exhausted and give them what they want or you'll leave. Abuse has many disguises. Stay strong

[NODEAL]

Thanks for your responses.