Hook & Ladder Apartments, L.P., Respondent, vs. Nichole Nalewaja, Appellant, John Doe, et. al., Defendants

Summary

The court held that waiver by acceptance of rent applies equally to private and publicly subsidized tenancies, rejecting the categorical exclusion previously applied to public housing payments. It also held that acceptance is determined from the totality of the circumstances, including the landlord’s conduct after receiving payment, and concluded that the landlord’s undisputed acceptance of payments after learning of the breach waived reliance on that past breach. The case was reversed and remanded for consideration of the lease’s non-waiver clause and the tenant’s retaliation defense.