appearance date, the matter was adjourned for Tenant to obtain legal counsel and she
eventually secured the Legal Services of NYC — Bronx to defend her in this
proceeding. An Answer was thereafter filed on April 30, 2014, denying some of the
allegations in the Petition, raising an objection in point of law as to the sufficiency of the
predicate nonpayment proceedings to establish chronic nonpayment, and interposing
several Affirmative Defenses, inter alia: that the Statute of Limitations bars inclusion of
proceedings commenced prior to the six-year limitation period and that there are
warranty of habitability issues.
By Notice of Motion returnable June 25, 2014, Tenant now moves for an order
granting summary judgment in her favor pursuant to CPLR 3212, and dismissing the
proceeding, arguing that Landlord has failed to state a prima facie cause of action for
breach of a "substantial obligation of her tenancy" based on chronic nonpayment of the
rent (Rent Stabilization Code [9 NYCRR] § 2524.3[a]), and seeking dismissal of
that part of the Petition which asserts untimely predicate claims barred by the six-year
Statute of Limitations embodied in CPLR 213(2). In support of her Motion, Tenant
argues that Landlord cannot rely on nonpayment proceedings commenced against her
over six years prior to this proceeding, nor on the other legal proceedings which were
either settled by Stipulations of Settlement and/or containing repairs and habitability
issues. In sum, Tenant argues that Landlord cannot characterize her as chronically
delinquent and that the Petition should be dismissed.
In opposition, Landlord counters that its Predicate Notice and Petition sufficiently
state a cause of action for a material obligation breach and that triable issues of fact exist