FAILURE TO RETURN KEYS DID NOT CONSTITUTE A FAILURE TO SURRENDER THE APARTMENT, TENANT ENTITLED TO RETURN OF SECURITY DEPOSIT.
The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the tenant was entitled to the return of the security deposit. The fact that the tenant did not return the keys did not show a failure to surrender the apartment:
The tenant established his prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law on the cause of action alleging breach of the lease for failing to return the security deposit (see General Obligations Law § 7-103). The evidence established that the tenant paid the landlord a security deposit and vacated the apartment a few days before the lease terminated. In opposition, the landlord failed to raise a triable issue of fact. Contrary to the landlord’s contention, the tenant’s failure to return the keys prior to the expiration of the lease did not show a failure to surrender … . Furthermore, there was no provision in the lease requiring the tenant to notify the landlord that he was vacating the apartment. In fact, the “Tenant Cooperation Rider” stated that such notice was not required. Moreover, the landlord failed to submit evidentiary proof that the tenant damaged the apartment. Pezzo v 26 Seventh Ave. S., LLC, 2016 NY Slip Op 07310, 2nd Dept 11-9-16
LANDLORD-TENANT (FAILURE TO RETURN KEYS DID NOT CONSTITUTE A FAILURE TO SURRENDER THE APARTMENT, TENANT ENTITLED TO RETURN OF SECURITY DEPOSIT)/KEYS (LANDLORD-TENANT, FAILURE TO RETURN KEYS DID NOT CONSTITUTE A FAILURE TO SURRENDER THE APARTMENT, TENANT ENTITLED TO RETURN OF SECURITY DEPOSIT)/SECURITY DEPOSIT (LANDLORD-TENANT, FAILURE TO RETURN KEYS DID NOT CONSTITUTE A FAILURE TO SURRENDER THE APARTMENT, TENANT ENTITLED TO RETURN OF SECURITY DEPOSIT)