Property Law Developments—Joseph William Singer

The New York Court of Appeals has held that a loft owner who has not complied with regulations designed to ensure that lofts are habitable cannot collect rent or evict the residential tenant from her home. Chazon v. Maugenest, 971 N.E.2d 852 (N.Y. 2012). In one sense this is a straight-forward application of modern landlord/tenant law. The case is unusual because the tenant has been living in the loft without paying rent for nine years and because the tenant’s initial occupation was illegal since the property had been formerly used for commercial purposes and rented to a residential tenant in violation of New York City ordinances. The Court felt it had no discretion given the clear language of the loft law. That law had been intended to induce loft landlords to upgrade the property to make it habitable but hundreds of such landlords have still not complied with it despite the fact that it has been in effect for 30 years. The court held that the clear language of the loft law would apply even if the landlord’s violations were procedural rather than substantive.