Appeal from a judgment of the District Court of Suffolk County, Sixth District (James P. Flanagan, J.), entered June 16, 2004. The judgment, after a nonjury trial, awarded plaintiff the principal sum of $1,960.

Judgment reversed without costs and action dismissed.

Substantial justice was not done in this small claims action seeking the return of a security deposit (UDCA 1804, 1807). Plaintiff, who was moving to senior citizen housing, provided notice to landlord of intent to surrender her lease, as required by Real Property Law § 227-a (2), on or about June 11, 2003 and moved out of her apartment on or about June 30, 2003. Since, under the statute, such notice is effective no earlier than 30 days after the due date of the next rental payment subsequent to the date of delivery of the notice, tenant's notice of slightly more than two weeks was inadequate as a matter of law (see Cucinotta v Hanulak, 231 AD2d 904 [1996]). Because tenant admittedly did not pay the July 2003 rent, and the terms of the lease permitted use of the security deposit in lieu of rent in such circumstances, landlord was entitled to retain the deposit for that purpose (see Lukens v Gragert, 2002 NY Slip Op 50619[U] [App Term, 9th & 10th Jud Dists]).

Rudolph, P.J., McCabe and Tanenbaum, JJ., concur. [*2]
Decision Date: June 5, 2006