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NONPAYMENT AND HOLDOVER CASE?

NYC Housing Court Practice/Procedures

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NONPAYMENT AND HOLDOVER CASE?

Postby wallaby123 » Tue Mar 19, 2013 2:32 pm

My landlord started a nonpayment case, and then started a holdover case against me a month later. my lease was up in january and i have not paid since october of last year. is it possible for her to have two landlord-tenant cases against me? I thought a landlord has to choose one case and stick with it.
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Postby brookerlyne » Mon Apr 01, 2013 11:38 am

A LL is allowed to bring a holdover and a non payment at the same time. They are just not allowed to bring 2 non payments or 2 holdovers at the same time.
Depending on if it benefits you, you may inform the Court that there is also another pending action and the Judge may join the 2 actions together. May be best to if you get a pro-tenant Judge.
The above isnt legal advice - just an opinion.
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Postby TenantNet » Mon Apr 01, 2013 3:51 pm

Let's clarify things here (and thanks to the tenant attorney who did the clarifying).

First, if there are two cases, the LL cannot seek the same relief (in back rent). The LL can't sue for $1000 back rent in the Non-Pay and also seek the same amount (for the same time period) in the Holdover. It's not allowed.

Second, it also depends on what order the cases are brought.

The nonpayment requires there to be an L&T relationship, so if the LL terminates the tenancy for the Holdover, then the LL cannot sue in the Non-Payment.

The LL can start the Non-Pay first, then bring the Holdover, but not the reverse.

And in either case, that LL can't seek the same rent in both proceedings.

Another issue is Concurrent Jurisdiction. It used to be that a tenant could claim (as a counterclaim in a proceeding) an overcharge. The tenant could do that in court, or with DHCR. The courts and DHCR had "concurrent jurisdiction" over overcharges.

But not the same with services. To claim a diminution of services (in RS units), the tenant must file a claim with DHCR, and not in the courts. There is no concurrent jurisdiction with services.

Don't confuse services with violations of the Warranty of Habitability for bad conditions, which can be raised in court and tenant can get a one-time abatement. It gets confusing because services and WofH issues often overlap.

I have not looked at this last part for a few years, so I can't say with certainty that concurrent jurisdiction issues are still the same.
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