De Feo v. Merchant
New York City Court
115 Misc. 2d 286, 454 N.Y.S.2d 576 (1982)
- Written by Abby Roughton, JD
Facts
Landlord Cesare De Feo (plaintiff) brought a summary eviction proceeding against tenant Anthony Merchant (defendant) based on Merchant’s alleged failure to renew his lease in accordance with New York tenant-protection regulations. The regulations provided that between 60 and 90 days prior to the expiration of a tenant’s lease term, the landlord needed to send the tenant a notice of the lease’s expiration by certified mail and offer to renew the lease. The regulations further provided that the tenant had 30 days from the date of the certified mailing to accept the landlord’s offer and renew the lease. De Feo presented proof that he sent the required notice and offer of renewal by certified mail. However, Merchant contended that he never received the notice and offer of renewal. Merchant presented evidence that the U.S. Post Office regularly failed to deliver mail to tenants’ mailboxes in the apartment building. Merchant also demonstrated that he promptly tried to renew his lease once he learned that De Feo had commenced the eviction proceeding. The New York City Court considered the parties’ positions.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Eisenberg, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.