A couple who rented a White Plains house for $154,000 has sued the owner for allegedly refusing to fix a swimming pool problem.
Sara and Aaron Kaplan accused Taylor Howard, of Plano, Texas, of breach of contract, in a Nov. 25 complaint filed in Westchester Supreme Court.
“Promise of a heated outdoor pool was particularly important to the Kaplans’ decision to execute the lease agreement and move in to the property,” the complaint states. “Without the amenity, the Kaplans never would have agreed to lease the property at all, let alone for $11,500 a month.”
But the attorney who represents Howard says the dispute has already been settled.
“My client complied with what was required to be corrected,” Croton-on-Hudson attorney John A. Sarcone III said in an email. “This lawsuit is frivolous.”
The house in question is a classic brick colonial on Rosedale Avenue, near Maple Moor Golf Course, with five bedrooms, and four baths. Howard bought the house in 2018 for $1.2 million. The Zillow online real estate site estimates that it is worth more than $2 million now.
The Kaplans agreed to lease the house for 13 months, beginning June 1, 2023.
The couple claims that they discovered many problems during their initial inspection. The swimming pool’s heating system did not work. Walls were damaged, paint was chipped, closets were broken, a door and window screens were missing, a backyard swing set was rusty.
Howard and the management company he employed agreed to fix the pool immediately, according to the complaint.
The pool heating system still was not working by September 2023, and the Kaplans began withholding rent.
In November 2023, they sued Howard in Westchester Supreme Court, demanding $34,000 for loss of use of the swimming pool during the summer, and $100,000 for the cost of moving to another White Plains house with a pool that they and their two children could use.
Howard sued the Kaplans for back rent, in White Plains City Court.
The Kaplans and Howard settled their disputes this past January.
City court judge John P. Collins Jr. granted an eviction warrant but postponed it until July 1, after the lease expired.
The Kaplans agreed to pay Howard $57,500 for the withheld rent payments.
Howard agreed to have the management company make several repairs.
Now the Kaplans claim that several repairs were not made and that the swimming pool, which was not part of the settlement but still had to be operable under the original lease agreement, was never fixed.
Eventually, the pool developed a leak and became filthy, the complaint states, and it accommodated dead rodents for weeks.
“Time has made clear that defendants never intended to fulfill their lease agreement or settlement agreement obligations,” the complaint states.
The Kaplans are demanding $154,000.
Part of the settlement, Howard’s attorney pointed out, was dismissal of the original lawsuits with prejudice, meaning that the same claims may not be made again.
“They mask the same claims with allegations almost a year later that my client did not comply with the terms of the stipulation from the City Court,” Sarcone said.
“My client shall also seek sanctions for frivolous conduct,” for seeking the same relief they agreed to drop “after getting their proverbial asses handed to them for breach of the lease agreement.”
