Plain Language Requirement
The plain language requirement of N.Y. General Obligations Law § 5-702, requires residential leases to be written in plain language. As a landlord you must insure that your lease is ”written in a clear and coherent manner using words with their common everyday meanings.” Additionally, your lease must be “appropriately divided and captioned by its various sections.”
The law, in pertinent part, states the following:
a. Every written agreement entered into after November first, nineteen hundred seventy-eight, for the lease of space to be occupied for residential purposes, for the lease of personal property to be used primarily for personal, family or household purposes or to which a consumer is a party and the money, property or service which is the subject of the transaction is primarily for personal, family or household purposes must be:
1. Written in a clear and coherent manner using words with common and every day meanings;
2. Appropriately divided and captioned by its various sections.
Any creditor, seller or lessor who fails to comply with this subdivision shall be liable to a consumer who is a party to a written agreement governed by this subdivision in an amount equal to any actual damages sustained plus a penalty of fifty dollars.
Landlord Tenant Attorneys
Call the Law Firm of Vaughn, Weber & Prakope, PLLC at (516) 858-2620 to speak with a Landlord-tenant attorney.
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