Sometimes David beats Goliath in real life, too.
A single tenant took Peter Fine’s Atlantic Development Group to court for a snafu at his Manhattan apartment and won.
A Civil Court judge this week found the landlord started renovating Dakarai Larriett’s West Harlem rental, rendering it uninhabitable, and ran up his electric bill before his lease expired.
The judgment entitles Larriett, the director of supply chain planning for a major appliance manufacturer, to a $3,000 payout, plus the right to keep the two months’ rent he had been charged when construction was ongoing.
“This case demonstrates that with persistence and good record-keeping, the New York City Small Claims Court is one of the most effective organizations in New York City for securing justice,” Larriett said in an email.
The case dates back to March 2020 when the tenant fled his West Chelsea apartment at 303 Tenth Avenue for Michigan at the onset of the pandemic.
The renter told his landlord, an LLC associated with Atlantic Development, he would continue to pay rent on the lease until it expired at the end of July.
As the months passed, Larriett noticed from Michigan his Harlem electric bill creeping up, despite his having moved out. In May, Con Edison charged $65 for usage. In June, that number jumped to $142. In July, he’d somehow racked up a $256 bill.
When the renter returned to the apartment in mid-July for a final inspection he found an active construction site. The dryer had been placed in the bathtub, there was paint in the sink, trash covered the floors and the air conditioner was blasting — which explained the Con Ed bills.
Larriett’s belongings had been moved to the basement, but some were missing: a Louis Vuitton bag and a pair of shoes. Despite having relocated to the Midwest, Larriett pursued the case, flying back to New York twice in a quest for justice.
In its defense, Atlantic Development claimed that Larriett had wanted to break his lease, according to court documents. The firm alleged the tenant had surrendered his keys and that his rent checks for June and July had bounced.
But Larriett had kept an additional copy of the keys, which is how he got back into the apartment and discovered that Atlantic had jumped the gun on renovations.
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Rent ledgers submitted by Atlantic Development showed Larriett paid his June and July rent when it was due, but the landlord waited until September to cash the checks. That’s when they had bounced.
The judge reviewed the evidence and determined that Atlantic Development had renovated Larriett’s apartment without his knowledge or consent while he was still the legal leaseholder, effectively evicting him unlawfully.
Larriett’s next task is to collect the judgment, which covers the electric bills, Louis Vuitton bag and the hotel stay he booked when he was unable to use the apartment.
“I just sent a request for payment,” the tenant said. “So, I’m hoping they do the right thing.”
Atlantic Development did not respond to a request for comment.