Landlord-Tenant—Non-Payment Proceeding Against Rent Controlled Tenant of Record—Tenant Moved To Dismiss Arguing That Landlord Failed To Repair Defects—Motion Granted In Part—Landlord Failed To Repair Defective Roof—Tenant Granted a 100% Abatement 44 Four Out of 46 Months—Landlord Had "Harassed" Tenant—Court Imposed Injunction and Maximum Civil Penalty—Sanctions Denied—Court Found That "Purchasing a Dilapidated Building With Rent Controlled Tenants and Then Failing To Address Conditions for Years, and Seeking To Evict an Elderly Life-Long Rent Controlled Tenant In Residence, and Her Family, Where Ordinary Care Would Have Revealed True Nature of the Tenancy, Was Abhorrent"—Court Observed That Only 1.4 Percent of the City's Rentals Were Available in 2023, That Was the Lowest Portion Since 1968 and the Market Was Even "Tighter for Lower-Cost Apartments"

This decision involved a nonpayment proceeding against a rent controlled tenant (tenant). The petitioner (landlord) sought rent in the amount of $152 per month from October 2019 through August 2023.

The tenant's "statutory successor tenancy vested on or about April 17, 2004, when her mother passed away." "Four generations of respondent's family have resided in" the subject apartment. The tenant lived in apartment 4L her entire life. She is one of two remaining rent controlled tenants in the building. The tenant in apartment 3R, is the tenant's "mentally and physically disabled cousin."