Client Story #5

When a landlord just doesn't know when to quit.

Chris O’Leary lived in an East Village apartment for many years before he received a notice from the landlord, alleging that he was illegally subletting his apartment. The notice was completely unfounded: Chris maintained no other address, did not spend time away from home, and had impeccable documentation that his primary residence was in the apartment. Yet the landlord assumed that Chris would not have the resources or the gumption to sustain a fight in housing court. The landlord was wrong.

Our approach was to cooperate fully with discovery, and provide as many documents as we could, in an effort to resolve the case early. Instead, the landlord refused to withdraw the case. Next, we tried to get an early trial. The landlord stalled, saying it needed time to gather more evidence. The landlord was able to put off trial for entire year. Meanwhile, the landlord made offers to buy out Chris’ apartment for $20,000. Since Chris was a young man who could potentially enjoy many years in his apartment, he refused. We continued to press for trial.

In order to up the ante, the landlord subpoenaed Chris’ mother from her senior home in Long Island, ostensibly to have her testify that Chris lived there. In reality, the landlord was desperate to intimidate Chris from going to trial.

The result: once we were successful in getting the case to the trial judge, the landlord failed even to appear in court. Since his bluff had been called, we recovered substantial legal fees from the landlord, enabling us to reimburse Chris for all the legal fees he paid, save him from eviction, and ensure that he could continue to live in his East Village apartment at an affordable rent to the present day.