Tenant Abandonment Cases In New York

In Matter of Twenty-Nine Second, LLC (Loft Board docket No. LB-0124), the tenant was found to have abandoned the unit by, among other things relevant to 29 RCNY 2-10 (f) (3), leaving the premises some years previous to the application; allowing her lease to expire; and failing to pay $8,924.96 in back rent. (Respondents' mem of law, appendix A.) In Matter of 315 Church St. Corp. (Loft Board docket No. LB-0116), the tenant, among other things, had left the premises some years earlier to the petition; failed to return the keys to the apartment; owed considerable back rent; left with all his possessions and told landlord he was not coming back. (Id.) In Matter of Ovid, LLC (Loft Board docket No. LB-0079), the tenant had vacated the unit at least a year earlier to the petition; it was unclear whether rent was owed; no notice had been given to the landlord of any intent to vacate; and the tenant could not be located. (Id.) In contrast, the Board offers the case Matter of 67 Vestry LLC (Loft Board docket No. LB-0153/LC-0156), in which an abandonment was not found. In 67 Vestry, the tenant provided the landlord with two months' notice of its intention to vacate the premises, several months before the lease was to terminate; did not owe any rent at the time; and its departure was in compliance with its lease terms. The Board in 67 Vestry held that the vacature was "a simple turnover in the Unit's occupants," and that "to hold otherwise would mean that any turnover in the tenants of an interim multiple dwelling would constitute abandonment." (Respondents' mem of law, appendix B.)