The landlord's duty is to hold the funds in a form which identifies a security deposit as something other than a landlord's personal funds (see Kelligrew v Lynch, 2 Misc 3d 135[A], 2004 NY Slip Op 50220[U], *2 [App Term, 1st Dept 2004] ["commingling of a security deposit with a landlord's personal funds is a conversion"]; Finnerty v Freeman (176 Misc 2d 220, 221-222 [App Term, 2d & 11th Jud Dists 1998] [where landlord placed "security deposit in cash in a sealed envelope" which also [*4]contained a signed and witnessed letter averring that the cash was a security deposit "under the circumstances presented here constitutes sufficient compliance with the statutory mandate to hold a tenant's security 'in trust' "]).
In this instance, it is admitted that the deposit was placed in a savings account bearing only the individual name of one co-owner. This undisputed fact supports a finding of conversion of trust funds.