Civil Court Can't Order DSS to Pay Tenant's Rent
LVT Number: 8832
Landlord sued to evict tenant for nonpayment of rent. The civil court directed that DSS be joined in the proceeding and ordered the agency to pay tenant's rent. DSS appealed. The appeals court ruled for DSS. By not making assistance payments to tenant on time, DSS had contributed to tenant's inability to pay rent. But the civil court had no authority to order DSS to make payment. Instead, new laws are needed to accomplish this.
Affordable Housing SJP-LP v. DeKalb: NYLJ, p. 32, col. 5 (5/19/94) (App. T. 2 Dept.; Kassoff, PJ, Aronin, Patterson, JJ)