A Brooklyn Housing Court judge ruled that a tenant, who was evicted from his apartment but then paid his back rent to a superintendent, can no longer be kicked out based on the original eviction notice.
Management company 598 Marcy Avenue Associates LLC had evicted Alex Othman, a resident of the four-story, eight-unit rental building, for not paying $4,050 in rent. After Othman failed to attend a hearing in June, he received an eviction warrant in October. On the day of the October hearing, Othman handed a money order of $6,750 to superintendent Mamerto Rodriguez to pay off his debt, and subsequently moved back into the apartment.
The landlord requested that the original eviction notice be re-issued, arguing that Othman was trespassing, the Brooklyn Eagle reported. The judge said that the company must begin a new eviction proceeding in order to remove Othman from the unit.
“Once a warrant of eviction has been executed … if the tenant as a trespasser thereafter re-enters into possession of the premises, the marshal cannot re-execute the warrant of eviction and re-evict him,” Judge Gary Marton wrote. [Brooklyn Eagle] — Mark Maurer