Real
Cases in Real Estate
is a weekly update on real estate law, with legal principles illustrated and
explained by lawsuits from around the country. The topics are wide-ranging for
appeal to a broad spectrum of readers including lawyers, homeowners, investors
and the general public. Andrea Lee Negroni, a Washington DC
attorney and legal writer with 25 years of experience in financial services and
mortgage law, contributes the case summaries.
Followers of
Real Cases in Real Estate will learn and be entertained by lawsuits
involving nuisance, trespass, zoning violations, deed restrictions, title
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brokers and homebuyers, and zoning administrators and developers.
Each fully
cited case summary highlights the essential law of the case and explains the
principal legal theories and concepts relevant to the outcome. Plain language
treatment makes Real Cases in Real Estate accessible to lawyers and
laymen alike.
Whether you
follow real estate law professionally or as a hobby, you'll find something new
and useful every week in Real Cases in Real Estate.
Updates
for the Week of March 21st, 2012
Townhouse Owner
Cannot Neglect his Property for 22 Years and Recover Repair Costs from the
Estate of the Tenant.
Jacques Gulekjian owned a townhouse in Rock Hill, New
York, which he bought new in 1986. He lived in the townhouse from the time he
bought it until 1994, when he rented it to Judith Jaffe. Jaffe lived in the
townhouse until she died in March 2008. Jaffe's daughter Nina was named
executrix of her mother's estate.
Gulekjian filed a claim of $58,300 against the estate for
work, labor, services and materials he claimed were necessary to repair the townhouse
damaged by his tenant during her tenancy. He later revised his claim to
$17,552.
Among the items claimed by the landlord were costs to
replace the parquet floors, which he said were damaged by water and urine and
beyond repair. Other items claimed included broken and cracked bathroom and
kitchen tiles, a missing drawer from a kitchen cabinet, chipped and worn countertops,
nail holes in the walls, broken appliances and a dirty refrigerator. The landlord
said the driveway was not in good condition and he had to replace it.
At the hearing on the landlord's damages, the landlord admitted
he had made no repairs to the property for the eight years he lived there or
during the 12-year tenancy of Judith Jaffe. Moreover, he produced only one
receipt for repairs, explaining that he paid cash to his laborers. The Estate
of Jaffe testified that the property was cleaned by a professional cleaning
company in April 2008, one month after Judith Jaffe's death. The owner of the
cleaning company testified that the parquet floors could have been sanded and
cleaned and that replacing them was unnecessary.
The court said the landlord failed to prove his tenant
damaged the townhouse. "The condition of the premises after twenty-two years
reflects normal wear and tear and the lack of any regular updates or
maintenance." In other words, a landlord cannot neglect to repair his property
for 22 years and thereafter perform a total renovation at his tenant's expense.
Moreover, when the landlord has no receipts, cancelled checks or payment ledger
proving repair expenses, he has insufficient evidence to support a claim for
labor costs. The New York court awarded the landlord only the actual costs of
the materials for the new parquet floor and $62 for replacement of the missing
kitchen drawer.
Gulekjian v.
Estate of Judith A. Jaffe, 927
N.Y.S.2d 816; 2011 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1887 (April 26, 2011) [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers].
....
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