The parties acknowledge that the
Tenant took possession of the premises known as 31 Lenox Road, Apartment 2D, Rockville
Centre, NY 11570 ("Premises") at the end of August 2007, with rent commencing in September
2007.
There was testimony that when Tenant first took possession of the Premises, he was
presented with a lease, however, a fully executed lease was never produced and in any event the
lease, whether or not it was ever executed, the parties have agreed that the lease has since long
expired and the tenancy continued as a month-to-month tenancy. In addition to the foregoing,
since the parties have already stipulated as to the amount of the unpaid rent, the only substantive
issue before this Court is whether the Landlord breached the warranty of the habitability which is
implicit [*2]in every lease whether oral or written. (Real Property
Law §235-b.) Therefore, the existence of what purported to be a lease is not required
regarding this issue.
The Tenant had testified that since the day he moved into the Premises, there was a problem
with the paint on the walls either peeling or forming a bubble, the window frame was in bad
shape, the toilet was held in place by only 2 bolts[FN1], the ceiling had a crack mark in it, the
bathroom tub and sink had rust marks around the drain that necessitated the Tenant to clean the
drains and other minor maintenance items that are contained in Respondent's Exhibit "C".
DISCUSSION
PETITION IN
NAME OF LANDLORD
The Tenant's first procedural defense is that the petition was brought in the name of Louis
Devito, the purported agent of Lenn Property, LLC and not Lenn Property, LLC itself. The first
line of the petition states: "The Petition of Louis DeVito, the agent for owner/landlord of the