## Facts

- Bruce Gurian leased a residential apartment for a three-year term (Dec. 1, 1963–Nov. 30, 1966) at $425 per month; the leased premises included a terrace that was a major reason for renting the unit.
- About a year into the lease (from early 1965), the terrace became effectively unusable: a central air-conditioning unit emitted a green fluid and a steady stream of water onto the terrace, and a nearby incinerator deposited ash and debris there.
- Gurian and his family promptly stopped using the terrace once these conditions developed, but they continued to live in the interior apartment.
- East Haven Associates, Inc. later purchased the building (April 1966) and became the landlord.
- Gurian vacated the apartment at the end of July 1966, leaving about four months remaining on the lease, and did not pay rent for August through November 1966.
- East Haven sued for the unpaid rent and additional claimed damages (including legal fees and asserted property damage).
- Gurian defended on the ground of constructive eviction (or, alternatively, partial constructive eviction) and asserted counterclaims, including for furniture damage and return/credit of his $425 security deposit.

## Issues

1. Whether a residential tenant who remains in possession of most of an apartment can claim constructive eviction from the entire premises when a terrace included in the lease became unusable long before the tenant moved out.
2. Whether New York law recognizes partial constructive eviction when landlord-controlled conditions render a material part of the leased premises unusable and the tenant abandons that part but continues occupying the remainder.
3. If partial constructive eviction applies, whether the landlord’s rent recovery must be reduced to reflect the value of the portion from which the tenant was constructively evicted, and how ancillary damage and deposit claims should be resolved.

## Decision

- The court held Gurian was **not** constructively evicted from the entire apartment because he did not vacate with reasonable promptness after the terrace conditions arose; remaining in the apartment for roughly 17 months after the terrace became unusable defeated a claim of total constructive eviction.
- The court held New York law **does** recognize **partial constructive eviction** where landlord-responsible conditions substantially interfere with the tenant’s use of a material part of the leased premises.
- The court found Gurian suffered a **partial constructive eviction of the terrace**, because the terrace became unusable due to the air-conditioning discharge and incinerator ash, and Gurian promptly abandoned the terrace even though he continued living in the apartment.
- The court permitted the pleadings to be conformed to the proof to consider partial constructive eviction (CPLR 3025(c)).
- East Haven was entitled to recover rent for the remaining lease term, **but only as reduced to account for the loss of the terrace** (a proportional abatement rather than full contract rent).
- The court dismissed East Haven’s additional property-damage claims for lack of proof.
- The court rejected Gurian’s furniture-damage counterclaim because the damage occurred before East Haven acquired the building.
- Gurian was entitled to a return or credit of the $425 security deposit.

## Legal Principles

- Constructive eviction requires a landlord-caused wrongful act or omission that substantially deprives the tenant of the beneficial use and enjoyment of the premises.
- A tenant seeking **total** constructive eviction must abandon the premises within a reasonable time after the conditions arise; extended delay in vacating defeats the claim.
- New York recognizes **partial constructive eviction** when landlord-responsible conditions make a distinct, material portion of the leased premises unusable and the tenant abandons that portion with reasonable promptness.
- When partial constructive eviction is established, the landlord cannot recover full contract rent; rent is reduced to reflect the value of the portion of which the tenant was deprived.
- A court may conform pleadings to the proof at trial to reach an issue tried by the parties (CPLR 3025(c)).

## Conclusion

East Haven Associates, Inc. v. Gurian held that the tenant’s long delay in leaving the apartment barred a claim of total constructive eviction, but landlord-controlled conditions that made the leased terrace unusable supported partial constructive eviction and a corresponding rent reduction; the court also dismissed the landlord’s unproven damage claims, denied the tenant’s furniture-damage counterclaim, and awarded the tenant return/credit of the security deposit.


East Haven Associates, Inc. v. Gurian, 313 N.Y.S.2d 927 (1970)