William Manor Management Associates, Petitioner, v Stephen Deutsch et al., Respondents.
City Court of Mount Vernon, Westchester County,
June 7, 1984
APPEARANCES OF COUNSEL
Novick, Edelstein & Lubell, P. C. (Geoffery D. Yorke of counsel), for petitioner. Stanley Alter, P. C., for respondent.
OPINION OF THE COURT
Sam Eisenberg, J.
In these nonpayment proceedings, the tenants admit that they owe rent to the landlord for the months of December 1983 through May 1984, at the rate of $398.33 per month for an aggregate liability of $2,358.12, and the petition has been amended, by consent, to make such claim. The tenants seek an offset, however, claiming a breach by the landlord of the warranty of habitability. The court is satisfied from the testimony that, indeed, there were conditions within the premises which required repairs and which breached the warranty of habitability.
The court rejects the response and claim of the landlord that it failed to make the repairs, only because it was denied access to the tenants’ apartment to make the repairs. Upon the testimony presented, the court finds that the landlord did have opportunities to make the repairs and that it did not exercise the reasonable degree of diligence which the serious conditions demanded in order to make the requisite repairs. An award of $300 is therefore granted to the tenants on their counterclaim for the breach of warranty of habitability which may be offset against the rent admitted to be owing.