884 West End Avenue Corp. v. Pearlman

Headnote

Landlord and tenan t — lease — provision in lease for five years that upon default in payment of monthly installment of rent entire balance of rent reserved becomes due and payable unconscionble and in the nature of a penalty and unenforcible.

884 West End Avenue Corpn. v. Pearlman, 201 App. Div. 12 , affirmed.

Appeal, by permission, from a judgment of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the first judicial department, entered June 28, 1922, unanimously affirming a judgment in favor of defendarit entered upon a dismissal of the complaint by the court at a Trial Term. The action was for rent under a lease for a term of five years commencing October 1, 1920. The complaint alleged non-payment of the monthly installment of rent due for the month of January, 1921, and that because

of defendant’s default the entire balance of rent reserved became due and payable under a clause in the lease, and demanded judgment for the amount thereof. The trial court held that the clause in question was unconscionable and in the nature of a penalty and, therefore, unenforcible.