THE NOTICE OF TERMINATION OF A LEASE DID NOT COMPLY WITH THE HUD REGULATION REQUIRING THAT THE REASONS FOR TERMINATION BE STATED WITH ENOUGH SPECIFICITY TO ALLOW THE TENANT TO MOUNT A DEFENSE; EVICTION ORDER REVERSED (THIRD DEPT).
The Third Department, reversing County Court, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Lynch, determined the landlord did not comply with the HUD regulation requiring that a notice of termination of a lease state the reasons for the termination with enough specificity to allow the tenant to mount a defense. The issue was raised by respondent-tenant’s oral general denial:
In our view, the notice of termination was deficient, as it did not set forth the factual predicates underlying the alleged violation of the lease terms, instead merely paraphrasing the lease and the underlying regulation … . No specific incident is described in the notice, nor are any specific facts. The regulatory standard of requiring “enough specificity so as to enable the tenant to prepare a defense” demands more detail as to the nature of the asserted misconduct (24 CFR 247.4 [a] [2]). Matter of Metro Plaza Apts., Inc. v Buchanan, 2022 NY Slip Op 01087, Third Dept 2-17-22