Opinion
2013-1382 OR C
02-24-2015
Crystal Run Village, Inc., Respondent, v. Debra Nathanson, Appellant.
PRESENT: : , IANNACCI and TOLBERT, JJ.
Appeal from an amended order of the City Court of Middletown, Orange County (Steven W. Brockett, J.), entered July 19, 2013. The order granted plaintiff's motion to dismiss defendant's counterclaim.
ORDERED that, on the court's own motion, the notice of appeal from the order dated June 6, 2013 is deemed a premature notice of appeal from the amended order entered July 19, 2013 (see CPLR 5520 [c]); and it is further,
ORDERED that the amended order entered July 19, 2013 is affirmed, without costs.
Defendant appeals from an amended order granting plaintiff's motion to dismiss defendant's counterclaim, which counterclaim sought to recover for damage, in excess of the security deposit, to an apartment which defendant had rented to a third party. Defendant based her claim on a guaranty of the annual rent executed by plaintiff.
The guaranty executed by plaintiff was clearly limited to the annual rent. Nothing in the guaranty required plaintiff to be responsible for additional rent or for any damage to the apartment in excess of the security deposit. As the guaranty should be strictly construed (see 63 NY Jur 2d, Guaranty and Suretyship § 115; Daniel Finkelstein & Lucas A. Ferrara, Landlord and Tenant Practice in New York § 4:234 [West's NY Prac Series, vol F, 2014]), we find that defendant's counterclaim was properly dismissed.
Accordingly, the amended order entered July 19, 2013 is affirmed.
Marano, P.J., Iannacci and Tolbert, JJ., concur.
Decision Date: February 24, 2015