Foundation of Love, USA, Inc. v. Pena (2019)

By order dated September 30, 2016, the Civil Court denied tenant's motion. The court found that, because the parties had previously been in court in another nonpayment proceeding, which had been restored several times pursuant to various motions, tenant was not unfamiliar with the court process, and that it is therefore likely that the true reason tenant had not moved to restore the proceeding after the repairs had not been completed by December 31, 2015 was that tenant had lacked the funds to pay the arrears and ongoing rent. The court further stated that, while tenant had a long-term tenancy and the equities generally favor protecting such tenancies, "where actions are intentional and the default is clear, this Court may not restore the tenancy."