CEEFPA Bars Landlord From Evicting Occupant Without Additional Motion Filing

Landlord sued to evict an unregulated tenant and his roommate from an apartment in 2018. On March 4, 2020, after a number of court appearances and motion practice, landlord signed a court-ordered settlement agreement with tenant. This stipulation gave landlord a judgment of possession and provided for issuance of an eviction warrant forthwith with execution delayed through March 31, 2020. The court also entered a judgment and called for warrant issuance against the roommate after holding an inquest based on the roommate's default and failure to appear.

The COVID-19 pandemic then shut down the courts for a period, and pursuant to DRP-213 landlord requested permission to execute on the eviction warrant in September 2020. While that request was pending, the CEEFPA was enacted on Dec. 30, 2020, and the remaining roommate filed a Hardship Declaration. Tenant by now had moved out.

The court ruled against landlord, noting that CEEFPA Part A, Section 7 required landlord in this case to file a motion in order to trigger the roommate's entitlement to a statutory no-fault removal of the judgment. This was a different requirement than the DRP-213 motion for execution on the eviction warrant. Without a CEEFPA motion from the landlord, the court also denied the roommate's motion to remove the judgment. The court also denied the roommate's request to vacate the judgment and warrant against him. The roommate claimed that he wasn't a party to landlord's settlement agreement with tenant. But the judgment and warrant against the roommate were based separately on a judgment issued after inquest.

Silverstein v. Huebner: Index No. 94101/2018, 2021 NY Slip Op 50702(U)(Civ. Ct. Kings; 7/27/21; Stoller, J)