Tenant Didn't Comply with Requirements for New Keycard

Tenant sued landlord for illegal lockout. She claimed that landlord didn't give her keycards to the new locks that had been installed on the entry doors solely because she had refused to provide landlord with a photograph of herself. Landlord presented a 2012 DHCR order that permitted landlord to issue the electronic keycards and stated that if tenants were locked out, the lobby front door attendant must contact security, and after security verified the identity of the person, entry would be permitted. The order also stated that each person receiving a keycard must sit for a photo to be electronically associated with the keycard. The court ruled for tenant and found that tenant had been unlawfully evicted.

Landlord appealed and won. To prove unlawful eviction under Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law Section 713(10), tenant must show that landlord had entered the apartment or remained in possession by force or unlawful means. Landlord didn’t change the keys to tenant’s apartment, and landlord acted well within its rights when it didn’t provide tenant with keycards because she had refused to comply with the photograph requirement contained in the DHCR order. Tenant didn’t show that she had identified herself to anyone or that, if she had, she wasn’t permitted to enter the building. The case was dismissed.

Clarke v. Copenhagen Leasing, LP: 2015 NY Slip Op 25163, 2015 WL 3367871 (App. T. 2 Dept.; 5/6/15; Pesce, PJ, Solomon, Elliot, JJ)