1, 2017, $1419 as of October 1, 2017 and $1442 as of October 1, 2018. Ms. Lora [*6]testified that Respondent never paid the market rents but continued
to pay a lower amount of $549. Accordingly, Petitioner's attorneys prepared a written rent
demand and, when Respondent failed to pay, commenced this proceeding. The court took
judicial notice of the rent demand, petition, notice of petition and affidavits of service in the court
file. As of the date of Ms. Lora's testimony in July 2019 Respondent owed $27,110.62; a ledger
Ms. Lora prepared showing rent charged and payments made from January 2017 through July
2019 was admitted into evidence over objection.
Ms. Lora testified that if Respondent had moved her subsidy would have gone with her and
her share of the rent would have remained the same, based on her income. Even after this case
commenced, through counsel Petitioner offered Respondent another available 2-bedroom
apartment in the Crotona Park Complex. However, there was no response to the two letters
Petitioner's attorney sent Respondent's attorney in October 2017 or to the two emails he sent her
in November 2017.
Because of a transmission error on HUD's end, even though Petitioner had notified HUD that
it had terminated Respondent's housing assistance effective March 1, 2017 Petitioner continued
to receive HUD subsidies for Respondent's apartment for over a year. When she started
supervising the complex Ms. Lora had responsibility for investigating and correcting this error,
which was resolved in April 2018. Petitioner had to reimburse HUD $12,082, comprised of
fourteen months of subsidy funds for March 2017 through April 2018.
On cross-examination Ms. Lora testified that it is the landlord, operating the building on