After trial, the Court finds that plaintiff proved his prima facie case and is entitled to judgment against defendant in the amount of $7034.52. At trial, plaintiff appeared Pro Se and defendants, Samson Management LLC and Garth Associates LLC, were represented by counsel, Jordan Hyman, Esq. of the Law Offices of Jordan M. Hyman LLC.

Defendant Garth Associates, LLC is the owner of apartment 0A3G in the Cooperative (Co-op) building located at 235 Garth Road Scarsdale, NY 10583. Defendant Samson Management LLC is the managing agent for the aforementioned apartment. In April of 2017, plaintiff and defendants entered into a lease agreement for the aforementioned apartment. On October 15, 2018, a fire occurred in the subject building causing damage to plaintiff's apartment. [*2]Plaintiff did not have renter's insurance. Plaintiff purchased renter's insurance on October 15, 2018, after the fire.

Plaintiff commenced this action to recover monetary damages arising from the aftermath of the fire. Specifically, plaintiff asserted that defendants denied access to the apartment such that plaintiff's belongings were damaged by mold, failed to provide a timely mold report, and retained plaintiff's pre-paid rent and security deposit despite plaintiff's exclusion from the apartment due to the fire. In support, plaintiff submitted a lease agreement between the parties; two settlement & release agreements between the parties; an invoice dated June 20, 2019, from RTK Environmental Group for a mold assessment and report; emails between the parties; a paid invoice made out to The New Crystal Restoration Enterprises, Inc. for mold remediation; a copy of plaintiff's Liberty Mutual insurance policy; Chase Bank records of payments made to Samson Management LLC; and account letters dated 10/1/18 & 11/1/18 from Samson Management to the plaintiff.

In opposition, defendant maintained that any damages incurred by plaintiff were as a result of plaintiff's failure to procure renter's insurance as required by the subject lease agreement. Alternatively, defendant argued that the two settlement & release agreements between the parties should be read as a whole and thus plaintiff is barred from bringing this action.

As a preliminary matter, this Court declines to enforce the two proposed settlement & release agreements between the parties. Neither document is fully executed on its own and one version contains additional terms. Further, both proposed settlement & release agreements include a third-party Garth Woods Owners Corp. such that it is unclear whether all parties agreed to the terms therein.

After careful review of the testimony and evidence presented and in the interest of substantial justice, the Court finds in favor of the plaintiff. Plaintiff conceded that there was property that was directly damaged by the fire and does not seek relief for same. Instead, plaintiff seeks relief for the property that was left in the apartment after the fire was extinguished, pre-paid rent, the security deposit, and the cost of remediating the mold. As evidenced by the email exchanges between the parties, defendant did not set a clear timeframe for plaintiff to enter the apartment and retrieve his belongings. The Court credits plaintiff's testimony that defendants denied plaintiff access to the apartment for months such that plaintiff's belongings developed mold.

Defendants maintain that all of plaintiff's damages were a direct result of plaintiff's failure to have insurance prior to the fire. The Court finds this argument unpersuasive. It is improbable that mold developed overnight. Rather the greater likelihood is mold grew over the course of the eight-month period during which plaintiff's property sat in the apartment. Further, a review of plaintiff's insurance policy indicates that Liberty Mutual Insurance would not cover mold remediation regardless of coverage date thus the Court finds in favor of the plaintiff for the cost of remediation in the amount of $2200.00. In addition, it is undisputed that the fire in the building was of no fault to the plaintiff and after the fire plaintiff did not live at the premises due to its inhabitability. Thus, the Court awards plaintiff the pre-paid rent in the amount of $2984.52 and the security deposit in the amount of $1850.00. The Court denies relief as it relates to the mold report as the emails submitted by plaintiff indicate that defendants provided a mold report prior to plaintiff hiring from RTK Environmental Group. In light of the Court's findings, judgment is granted in favor of plaintiff for $7034.52 plus interest from the date of filing, [*3]November 29, 2019, plus costs and disbursements. Accordingly, it is hereby

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the Clerk shall enter judgment in favor of the plaintiff, Jonathan D Swotinsky, and against defendants, Samson Management LLC and Garth Associates LLC in the amount of $7034.52 plus interest from the date of filing, November 29, 2019, plus costs and disbursements.

This constitutes the final Decision and Order of the Court.