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SECURITY DEPOSIT CANNOT BE USED BY THE LANDLORD AS AN OFFSET AGAINST UNPAID RENT, BUT CAN BE USED BY THE TENANT TO REDUCE AMOUNT OWED TO THE LANDLORD.

In finding the special referee exceeded the scope of the reference from Supreme Court, the First Department explained the consequences of a landlord’s failure to place a security deposit in a separate account pursuant to General Obligations Law 7-103:

Section 7-103 prohibits landlords from commingling security deposits with their own funds. Violation of the statute gives rise to an action in conversion and the right to immediate return of the funds … . A landlord who violates Section 7-103 of the General Obligations Law cannot use the security as an offset against unpaid rents. This is so because a landlord is considered to be a trustee with respect to those funds deposited as security. To allow the landlord to set off the rent against the deposit would be to treat the deposit as a debt and the landlord as a debtor, the situation the statute was enacted to change … .The same logic does not pertain where a tenant seeks to apply the security deposit to reduce amounts found owing to the landlord.  23 E. 39th St. Mgt. Corp. v 23 E. 39th St. Dev., LLC, 2015 NY Slip Op 09605, 1st Dept 12-29-15

LANDLORD-TENANT (SECURITY DEPOSIT CANNOT BE USED AS OFFSET AGAINST UNPAID RENT)/LANDLORD-TENANT (SECURITY DEPOSIT CAN BE USED TO REDUCE AMOUNT TENANT OWES LANDLORD)/SECURITY DEPOSIT (LANDLORD CANNOT USE AS OFFSET AGAINST UNPAID RENT)/SECURITY DEPOSIT (CAN BE USED TO REDUCE AMOUNT OWED LANDLORD BY TENANT)

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