Based upon this clear precedent, the court must reject the request that any right to a refund of the security deposit to these out-of-possession tenants be deferred until the resolution of other outstanding issues.
The plaintiff tenants here have vacated and, accordingly, the court turns to the issues of (1) whether the record establishes a breach of the obligation to hold a security deposit in trust and not to mingle the deposit with personal assets, and (2) if so, and even assuming arguendo that the deceased co-owner may well have been actively responsible for any breach, whether the ap*968parently passive co-owner can be held jointly and severally liable for the obligation to refund the security deposit.
Establishing a Breach of Security Deposit Obligations
As can be discerned from case law, three factors emerge which bear upon a determination of a landlord’s breach of statutory obligations concerning maintenance of a security deposit: (1) whether the deposit was held in a segregated account and in the name of the actual landlord; (2) whether the landlord has responded to demands for information regarding the maintenance of the security account, either prior to or during litigation; and (3) whether the landlord complied with the independent duty to give the tenant notice of any depository bank and its address (General Obligations Law § 7-103 [2]). It significantly eases analysis to address each factor separately.
First, the title of the security deposit account clearly is of utmost significance. In Ferguson v Vaughan Imported Cars (9 Misc 2d 188 [App Term, 1st Dept 1957]), addressing section 233 of the Real Property Law, from which General Obligations Law § 7-103 was derived, the court observed (at 189):