Opinion
May 3, 1994
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Carol Huff, J.).
Plaintiff tenant brought this action to recover a security deposit after it had vacated defendant landlord's premises six months before expiration of the lease of its predecessor. Although plaintiff and defendant had discussed and drafted a surrender agreement that would have allowed plaintiff to vacate the premises prior to the expiration of the lease, the agreement was never signed by defendant, a requirement under the lease and also of the proposed surrender agreement itself. Thus the surrender agreement never became enforceable against defendant (General Obligations Law § 15-301). We agree with the trial court that the facts here do not support plaintiff's claim of equitable estoppel, "the alleged reliance on the oral agreement [being nothing] more than the usual situation of parties who orally agree on a deal, intending that there shall be a written contract, and then at the point of signing, one of the parties backs out" (Youz Films v. Just Born, 69 A.D.2d 778; see also, American Bartenders School v. 105 Madison Co., 59 N.Y.2d 716).
Concur — Sullivan, J.P., Ellerin, Ross, Asch and Tom, JJ.