100 Percent Abatement for Gas Shut-Off

Landlord sued to evict tenant for nonpayment of rent. Landlord claimed that tenant owed over $5,000 in back rent. Tenant claimed a breach of the warranty of habitability based on a number of conditions he claimed existed since he'd moved into the apartment in 1996. Tenant claimed that the apartment was infested with rats, mice, and roaches, that the apartment's entrance door was in severe disrepair, that the plumbing constantly leaked, that windows were broken, and that plaster was falling off the walls. Also, while landlord was installing a stove in the apartment below in September 1997, its employees ruptured a pipe, causing a gas leak in tenant's apartment. LILCO then shut off gas service to the apartment. Despite tenant's requests, landlord never fixed the pipe, and LILCO refused to turn on the gas until this unsafe condition was repaired. The court ruled for tenant and awarded him a 100 percent rent abatement until such time as landlord corrected the conditions in his apartment. The court found landlord's breach of tenant's warranty of habitability to be so egregious as to warrant a total rent abatement.

Northwood Village v. Curet: NYLJ, p. 34, col. 4 (5/6/98) (Dist. Ct. Suffolk; Spinner, J)