Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Makes New Law, Evicting Long-Term Nuisance Tenant

In Cabrini Terrace Joint Venture v. O’Brien, Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. evicted a forty-year tenant who had been creating a nuisance for his neighbors through his disgusting housekeeping practices.

Located in upper Manhattan, Charles O’Brien’s apartment was atrocious, the site of piles of clothing and other debris, and host to hundreds of vermin- some of whom escaped to invade neighbors’ apartments as well. The smell erupting from the apartment was immediately apparent and nauseating as one stepped off the elevator.

But, Mr. O’Brien, himself an attorney who advises tenants in the Housing Court, certainly knew his way around that court and produced piles of papers in both the Housing Court itself and in the Appellate Term.

Further working to O’Brien’s advantage was the court systems well documented preference for keeping long term tenants in their homes. In order to safeguard landlord’s interests, Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. had to make a showing so convincing that not only would the court order an eviction, but the court would not give the tenant a chance to clean up to stave off that eviction, forcing the landlord to start the procedure all over again in a few months.

It was therefore necessary, not only to demonstrate that the tenant himself and his witnesses were unworthy of belief, but that the landlord’s witnesses were, in fact telling the truth- a sufficiently compelling truth to convince the court that the problem was not the apartment itself, but the tenant.

With Adam Leitman Bailey as lead trial counsel, and Carolyn Rualo second seated the trial with Dov Treiman and drafting memoranda, the team managed to do both on the trial level and the subsequent appeal.

On March 11, 2010, the Appellate Division, First Department handed down its unanimous affirmance of the Appellate Term in Cabrini Terrace Joint Venture v. O’Brien. At issue was an apartment described by all courts hearing the case as a place of roach and rodent infestation, clutter, offensive odors, and stacked newspapers and wiring in disarray. The court used this decision to clarify the law on post-judgment cure in nuisance proceedings, finding, “A posttrial opportunity to cure was properly denied upon a finding, based on the testimony and the trial court’s own inspection, that the nuisance conditions had existed over a substantial period, had not abated although tenant had been given ample opportunity to do so, and were unlikely to be abated.” Making new law, the court broke new ground, ruling that where the evidence is overwhelming that there is a nuisance and the tenant denies it, post-judgment cure is inappropriate because the tenant cannot cure what the tenant cannot appreciate.

As a result, despite 30 years of allowing tenants to cure any defects after losing at trial, this case changed that precedent and ordered an immediate eviction.

The landlord was represented by the Manhattan law firm of Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C.

Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Makes New Law, Evicting Long-Term Nuisance Tenant

Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Makes New Law, Evicting Long-Term Nuisance Tenant
In Cabrini Terrace Joint Venture v. O’Brien, Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. evicted a forty-year tenant who had been creating a nuisance for his neighbors through his disgusting housekeeping practices. Located in upper Manhattan, Charles O’Brien’s apartment was atrocious, the site of piles of clothing and other debris, and host to hundreds of vermin- some of whom escaped to invade neighbors’ apartments as well. The smell erupting from the apartment was immediately apparent and nauseating as one stepped off the elevator. But,...
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Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Wins Vindicated Victory Against Long Term Nuisance Tenant – Appellate Term, First Department

Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Wins Vindicated Victory Against Long Term Nuisance Tenant – Appellate Term, First Department
APR 29, 2009 SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE TERM, FIRST DEPARTMENT A February 2009 Term McKeon, P.J., Schoenfeld, Heitler, JJ. Cabrini Terrace Joint Venture, Petitioner-Landlord-Respondent, -against- Charles O’Brien, Respondent-Tenant-Appellant. NY County Clerk’s No. 570255/08 Calendar No. 08-453 Tenant appeals from a final judgment of the Civil Court of the City of New York, New York County (Gerald Lebovits, J.), entered March 7, 2008, after a non-jury trial, which awarded possession to landlord in a proceeding. Per Curiam. Final judgment (Gerald Lebovits, J.)...
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Cabrini Terrace Joint Venture v. Charles O’Brien, Appelate Division, First Department

Cabrini Terrace Joint Venture v. Charles O’Brien, Appelate Division, First Department
Cabrini Terrace Joint Venture v O’Brien 2010 NY Slip Op 01891 [71 AD3d 486] March 11, 2010 Appellate Division, First Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. As corrected through Wednesday, April 28, 2010 Cabrini Terrace Joint Venture, Respondent, v Charles O’Brien, Appellant. —[*1] Charles O’Brien, Bronx, appellant pro se. Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C., New York (Jeffrey R. Metz of counsel), for respondent. Order of the Appellate Term of the Supreme Court,...
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Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Wins Vindicated Victory Against Long Term Nuisance Tenant After 5 Day Trial, Civil Court

Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Wins Vindicated Victory Against Long Term Nuisance Tenant After 5 Day Trial, Civil Court
Click Here for Client Testimonial [*1] Cabrini Terrace Joint Venture v O’Brien 2008 NY Slip Op 50443(U) [18 Misc 3d 1145(A)] Decided on March 7, 2008 Civil Court Of The City Of New York, New York County Lebovits, J. Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. As corrected in part through April 8, 2008; it will not be published in the printed Official Reports. Decided on March 7, 2008 Civil Court of the...
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Nuisance Tenant with Debris-Filled Apartment Evicted

Nuisance Tenant with Debris-Filled Apartment Evicted
New York Housing Journal
By: Adam Leitman Bailey May, 2008 An owner sued to evict a rent-stabilized tenant for substantially violating his lease and creating a nuisance by keeping his apartment in an unclean, unsanitary, and unhealthy condition. The tenant argued that even if those conditions had existed, he had cured them. At the trial, six witnesses testified about the foul smell emanating from the apartment, as well as the presence of dirt, debris, and vermin infestation in the apartment. The court conducted its...
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Appeals Court Rules that Nuisance Tenant Can’t Cure Violation After Trial

Appeals Court Rules that Nuisance Tenant Can’t Cure Violation After Trial
New York Housing Journal
Appeals Court Rules that Nuisance Tenant Can’t Cure Violation After Trial Owners should have an easier time evicting nuisance tenants, thanks to a recent appeals court ruling. The appeals court ruled that if a tenant is found to be a nuisance after a trial, the tenant isn;t entitled to a chance to “cure,” that is correct, the nuisance behavior [Cabrini Terrace Joint Venture v. O’Brien: 2010 NY Slip Op 01891 (App. Div. 1st Dept. 3/11/10)]. The court’s ruling broke new...
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