National Housing Law Project Housing Law Bulletin

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Termination of 30-Year Public Housing Tenancy Held Unduly Harsh

The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, recently unanimously reinstated the 30-year public housing tenancy of an elderly woman who breached a stipulated agreement with the New York City Public Housing Authority to exclude her 29-year-old son from the apartment that she shared with her daughter and grandchild.(1) The son had been excluded from the premises by the stipulated agreement after he had been found there with marijuana. More than two years after the agreement was entered into, during which time the authority had conducted nine investigatory inspections of the apartment, the son was found visiting while his mother was away from the apartment. After a hearing the authority terminated the tenancy for breach of the stipulated agreement. The appellate division reinstated the tenancy. It found that in "view of the absence of evidence that the tenant had consciously or intentionally violated the stipulation, the de minimus nature of the violation, and especially considering the drastic consequences to this particular petitioner who is an elderly woman and purportedly in ill health, the penalty imposed is unduly harsh under the unique circumstance presented for our review."(2)

Notes-

(1) Cardona v. Franco, 699 N.Y.S. 2d 383 (N.Y. Appel. Div. 1^st Dept. Dec., 9, 1999).