1250 Broadway, 27th Floor New York, NY 10001

WHY RED AND GREEN?

Most leases restrict what tenants can do within their apartments. Alterations, or other changes made without the owner's consent, are usually prohibited.

By way of example, paragraph 10 of the The Real Estate Board of New York, Inc.'s "Standard Form of Apartment Lease" provides, in substantial part, as follows:

You [Tenant] cannot build in, add to, change or alter, the Apartment in any way, including wallpaper, painting, repainting or other decorating, without getting Owner's written consent before You do anything. Without Owner's prior written consent, You cannot install or use in the Apartment any of the following: dishwasher machines, clothes washing or drying machines, electric stoves, garbage disposal units, heating, ventilating or air conditioning units or any other electrical equipment which, in Owner's reasonable opinion, will overload the existing wiring installation in the Building or interfere with the use of such electrical wiring facilities by other tenants of the Building.

Violations of these kind of provisions can not only get a tenant evicted, but can also lead to liability for the costs incurred by the landlord to restore the unit to its original condition (ordinary wear and tear excepted, of course).

In Ebrahimi v. Martino , Mr. Ebrahimi sued his landlord for the return of his security deposit ($850) together with an additional $200 which had been promised to him if the tenant vacated the apartment and no "damage" was found.

Of course, as one might anticipate, the landlord refused to release the monies, claiming that he  had to pay $1475 to undo the tenant's unauthorized "alterations." For some undisclosed reason, Ebrahimi had decided to paint the apartment's walls "red and green."

After a trial, the Nassau County District Court (small claims part) concluded that Ebrahimi was not entitled to the monies in question. And, on appeal, the Appellate Term, 9th and 10th Judicial Districts, affirmed.

The tenant recovered ZILCH!

Nada!

Nothing.

Which reminds us of a bad joke, which goes something like this:

What's red and green and goes 175 miles an hour?

Answer:

A frog in a blender.

Our sincerest apologies, in advance, to all our friends at PETA .

For a copy of the Appellate Term's decision, please use this link: Ebrahimi v. Martino

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