Case Study

Disruptive Tenant Bested by Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Attorneys

As any New Yorker can tell you, housing—much like a seat on the subway—is hard come to by in the Concrete Jungle. In the advent of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (HSTPA), New York city landlords are left with reduced immediate recourse in dealing with tenants who violate the terms of their leases. Often, Landlord attorneys need to craft innovative solutions for dealing with these problem tenants. 

So when a disruptive tenant in a rent stabilized building located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan began verbally abusing, harassing, and threatening a unionized building doorman and refused to abide by building rules , the landlord turned to Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. (ALBPC) attorneys for assistance.  Rather than commence a long drawn-out eviction proceeding in Housing Court, Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. attorneys commenced a Supreme Court action asserting causes of action for declaratory and injunctive relief and attorneys fees. Accompanying the complaint, Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. attorneys also moved by order to show cause for an immediate temporary restraining order that the tenant be curbed by Court order from continuing to abuse building staff. Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. ‘s filings included multiple affidavits from building staff and management personnel containing detailed first-hand accounts of the tenant’s despicable behavior and abuse towards staff.  Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. creatively argued that immediate injunctive relief was warranted because if the landlord was not proactive and allowed the abuse towards unionized building staff to continue, the landlord was subject to the possibility of these staff members filing and prosecuting complaints for hostile work environment.

In a big victory for the landlord, at oral argument on the motion, the judge agreed with all of Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. arguments. After admonishing the tenant in open court for her terrible behavior, the Court granted the requested temporary restraining order in its entirety.  After the tenant failed to appear in Court at the scheduled follow-up Court appearance, the Court converted the temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction.

Since that time, the building has not recorded a single incident from this long-time problem tenant.   Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C.’s creative lawyering and strong written and oral advocacy put a quick and relatively inexpensive end to what could have easily become a years long costly and drawn out litigation in Housing Court.

Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. attorneys Dov Treiman drafted the papers and Israel Katz at oral argument secured the victory for the landlord.