Our partner, Glenn H. Spiegel, pictured left, can be found on the New York Times website responding to a reader's question on rent abatements.
The text of the piece appears below:
Renter Can't Use Balcony
Q I am a renter in a residential building and have temporarily lost the use of my balcony because the landlord is performing exterior structural repairs in accordance with Local Law 11. Am I entitled to a rent abatement?
A Probably not.
Glenn H. Spiegel, a Manhattan real estate lawyer, acknowledges that when rented space cannot be used as a result of the actions of the owner, an argument can be made that the tenant is entitled to a rent reduction under either the common law doctrine of "actual eviction" or the statutory "warranty of habitability."
But, he said, courts have ordered little or no reduction when the loss of use or inconvenience — particularly a temporary or insubstantial one — is attributable to an owner's efforts to comply with local rules or laws, rather than the result of wrongdoing. Since the inability to use the balcony is due to the owner's attempt to satisfy a New York City requirement, and may even be intended for the tenant's safety, it is unlikely that the rent would be abated in any significant way, if at all.