No Breach of Warranty of Habitability Where Tenants Lived in Unit Only a Few Days a Year

LVT Number: #32239

Shareholder-tenants of cooperative building sued landlord cooperative corporation for damages resulting from leaks into their unit and sought to withhold maintenance payments while the case was pending. The court dismissed tenants' claim for breach of the warranty of habitability and ruled that tenants must pay the withheld maintenance.

Shareholder-tenants of cooperative building sued landlord cooperative corporation for damages resulting from leaks into their unit and sought to withhold maintenance payments while the case was pending. The court dismissed tenants' claim for breach of the warranty of habitability and ruled that tenants must pay the withheld maintenance.

Tenants appealed and lost. Tenants were entitled to maintain negligence and breach of contract claims stemming from leaks in their apartment. But the lower court correctly decided that tenants weren't entitled to withhold maintenance payments while the case was pending. The terms of their proprietary lease precluded set-off, diminution, or abatement of rent for property damage under the circumstances of this case. The lease provided for "damages by fire or otherwise." But this description referred to sudden and singular incidents, like fire, which had the immediate impact of rendering an apartment uninhabitable. Additional lease language in this provision also showed that such prohibition is to end when the unit is again habitable. A recurring water intrusion isn't the type of sudden event contemplated by the proprietary lease to excuse maintenance payments. Tenants also couldn't maintain a claim for breach of the warranty of habitability because they lived in the apartment only a few days a year.

Andreas v. 186 Tenants Corp.: Index No. 156486/16, App. No. 15010-15010A-15010B, Case No. 2020-04286, 2021-03332, 2022 NY Slip Op 04883