Holdover Petition Dismissed Based on Insufficient Description of the Subject Apartment

Landlord sued to evict tenant. Both the landlord's predicate notice and the petition referred to the premises as the "1st Flr." apartment although it was undisputed that tenant lived in the unit above the ground-floor unit. Tenant argued that reference to the "1st Flr." without any further information amounted to a misdescription of the apartment, and asked the court to dismiss the case. Landlord claimed that this unit had always been referred to as the 1st Flr. apartment by both parties.

The court ruled for tenant. Descriptions that are vague and likely to cause confusion may require dismissal. And a technically correct street address, or a description mirroring a lease, may not be sufficient. Here, a City Marshal would have no idea how the parties referred to the apartment, and it was more likely that a marshal would execute an eviction warrant at the ground-floor apartment, having no other information. In this case, tenant's apartment was one flight up and the unit's door was unmarked. Landlord should have described the apartment location in more detail in its court papers. 

Ahmed v. Reid: Index No. 322763-2022, 2022 NY Slip Op 51208(U)(Civ. Ct. Bronx; 12/2/22; Ibrahim, J)