Litter Box Saves Shy Kitty From Eviction

Many leases prohibit tenants from keeping pets in their apartments. However, according to NYC law, if a tenant keeps a pet in violation of the lease, and the landlord does not start an eviction proceeding three months after the landlord "knew or should have known" about the pet, then the landlord waives the right to object to the pet. In order to obtain the benefit of the "pet law," the tenant must keep the pet "openly and notoriously" and not hide the pet from the landlord or the landlord's agents.

What about shy cats who run away and hide whenever anyone new enters the apartment? Can a tenant keep a shy cat "openly and notoriously?" According to an appellate court in Manhattan, the answer was yes, in a case where the tenant kept the kitty litter box in the bathroom. The litter box was seen - or should have been seen - by an independent contractor doing repair work in the apartment. The court took the position that the independent contractor was the landlord's agent and therefore told - or should have told - the landlord about the litter box. Apparently, the landlord lost the eviction case, because it did not bring the case within three months of the date when the contractor did the repair work.

Luckily for kitty, she wasn't toilet trained.

184 West 10th Street Corp. v Siiri Marvits, Appellate Division, First Department (February 2009).