Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Eviction Allows Developer to Demolish on Time
The property owner/developer needed the removal of all commercial tenants in order to begin demolition before end-of-year. Although the commercial tenants had no leases, Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. was given only two months to obtain possession. The tenant’s answer created several creative and some not so creative defenses to the eviction action. Taking a risk by moving for summary judgment on the cases instead of proceeding to a trial and praying that the judge would decide the case from the bench, Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C.’s client needed the stars to align just right.
Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C.’s attorneys knew that they had sufficiently disproved the tenant’s defenses. Now they needed a judge to understand its client’s plight and decide the motion from the bench and write up the judgment of possession within a few days.
After argument and asking both sides to negotiate for a few hours while the papers were reviewed, the judge came back with a written partial summary judgment decision in Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C.’s favor. The tenant’s only sophisticated argument would, according to the judge, be held in abeyance and decided at another time.
Understanding that Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. was not going to allow any delays, Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. attorneys convinced one tenant attorney to withdraw its motion. This caused an immediate eviction of the subtenant who would have no defenses left.
The judge made the negotiation easier when she orally told the tenant that he would be losing the case. By offering a modest sum of money for possession from the tenant of record, Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. was able to convince the subtenants to surrender as well with there being no issues left to argue.
Adam Leitman Bailey and Christopher Halligan argued the motion and negotiated the settlements, and Dov Treiman prepared the motion and settlement papers on behalf of the property owner.