665-75 Eleventh Ave. Realty Corp. v. Schlanger

In 665-75 Eleventh Ave. Realty Corp. v. Schlanger (265 A.D.2d 270 [1st Dept 1999]), the Court explained that the tenant for whose benefit the guarantee was made "remained as a month-to-month tenant after the last written lease extension and paid monthly rent at the rate of $ 8,000 for the months of July, August and September 1995. Beginning in October 1995, [the tenant] failed to pay rent and thereafter a non-payment proceeding was commenced against [the tenant] claiming rents through June 1996." (265 A.D.2d at 270.) On those facts, the Court found that the guarantor was not liable for the unpaid rent and/or use and occupancy, explaining that the "terms of the guaranty, which are to be strictly construed in favor of a private guarantor (see, Levine v. Segal, 256 A.D.2d 199, 200, 682 N.Y.S.2d 375), only create an obligation on the part of the guarantor as to 'any renewal, change or extension of the Lease.' Since a 'guarantor should not be bound beyond the express terms of his guarantee' (Wesselman v. Engel Co., 309 N.Y. 27), and since it is undisputed that there was no written lease extension beyond June 30, 1995, the guaranty lapsed, releasing the defendant's decedent from liability under the lease." (Id. at 271.)