What You Need to Know About Broken Lease Cases

If a landlord sues you in a broken lease collection lawsuit, you have the right to defend yourself and dispute the debt. Do Not Ignore The Lawsuit! Seek legal assistance for how to respond to a Summons or any legal papers you receive. To win a collection lawsuit the landlord must prove that you broke the lease. The landlord proves its case using documents and witnesses. You, too, can use documents and witnesses to defend yourself .

If you do not respond to the Summons and appear in court, the landlord will likely win a default judgment against you. With a default judgment the landlord may:

• Freeze and subsequently seize funds in your bank account within limits
• Garnish your wages within limits
• Take personal property
• Put a lien on real property

In addition, a money judgment will exist for 20 years, accrue interest at 9 percent (9%) per year, and may appear on credit and tenant screening reports.

If you are sued in Civil Court or Supreme Court, you must serve your Answer within 20 or 30 days, depending on how you were served.

If you are sued in Small Claims Court, you must appear on the return date in the Summons, but a written Answer is not required.

Seek legal assistance immediately or contact the Civil Legal Advice and Resource Office (CLARO) located in your borough’s Civil Court.

If applicable, you can raise following defenses in your Answer and in court:

• Landlord did not serve me correctly with the court papers
• I was forced to leave my apartment due to harassment or conditions dangerous to me and/or my family’s health and safety
• The lease and/or rent charged was illegal
• The landlord accepted my surrender of the premises before the end of my lease (meaning the landlord agreed I could break my lease)
• I was not under a lease or other obligation for the months the landlord seeks rent
• A third party is responsible for the rent, e.g.
• Section 8, SCRIE, DRIE, DSS
• Landlord failed to return or credit me for my security deposit
• I am owed a rent abatement because the landlord breached the warranty of habitability based on dangerous conditions in the apartment and/or I made repairs that were the landlord’s responsibility
• Landlord re-let the premises during the time period for which it has sued me
• I am a senior citizen who legally broke the lease early. Real Property Law § 227-a
• I am a domestic violence survivor who legally broke the lease. Real Property Law § 227-c
• NEW! Landlord failed to mitigate its losses by not renting the apartment at market rent or a rent equal to or lower than my last rent. Real Property Law § 227-e

Once in court, you will need to prove what you stated in your Answer. Bring with you such documents as:

• Your lease and lease renewal forms
• Photos of problems in your apartment
• List of dates and copies of letters telling your landlord about problems
• Receipts for the rent you have paid
• Evidence that landlord failed to rent apartment at a lower rent
• Other relevant records

You can likely seek to vacate the judgment, if:

• You were improperly served with the court papers or
• You have an excuse for not appearing in court and a defense to the case

Under Federal and New York State laws, judgments cannot be enforced to collect certain types of income that are exempt from collection, including:

• Social Security, SSI, disability, pensions, child support, spousal maintenance, unemployment insurance, veterans benefits, workers compensation, and public assistance.
• Generally, the first $2,850 in your bank account is automatically protected from collection if it contains in part any directly deposited exempt benefits listed above.

The landlord’s attorneys may not use false or misleading statements or threaten or harass you when collecting a debt. For example, they may not:

• Misrepresent the amount you owe
• Contact you in any manner that make it public that you owe money, such as a post card or publishing your name
• Tell third parties like your neighbors, friends or relatives about your debt
• Telephone repeatedly and frequently

The landlord’s attorneys may not engage in unfair practices such as imposing charges or fees not authorized by a court or state law and collecting more than the amount owed.

The landlord and their attorneys may both be sued under New York laws if they used deceptive acts and practices in the conduct of their business and/or they were involved in deceit or collusion against the Court or any party.

If you win, you may recover money for damages you suffered, statutory damages, punitive damages, as well as court costs and attorney’s fees.

The landlord’s attorneys may be sued if they used collection methods in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

If you or someone you know needs legal assistance with a Broken Lease lawsuit, contact The Legal Aid Society’s Access to Benefits helpline at 888-663 6880 Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Or contact the Civil Legal Advice and Resource Office (CLARO) located in your borough’s Civil Court.

The information in this document has been prepared by The Legal Aid Society for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. You should not act upon any information without retaining professional legal counsel.