Binding effect of prior findings in eviction proceedings prevents later disregard of an express finding on withdrawal and rent acceptance.

An express finding recorded at an earlier stage of the same eviction proceedings can bind the parties later in that litigation, even if the matter arose in an interlocutory context. Where the court found that the landlord had agreed to withdraw the eviction petition and had accepted rent from the tenant, that finding could not be ignored in the subsequent stage of the same case. Because the landlord did not challenge the finding at the proper stage, later courts were not entitled to disregard it. The eviction petition therefore could not be sustained.

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Issues: Whether an express finding recorded in proceedings to set aside an ex parte order, that the landlord had agreed to withdraw the eviction petition and had received rent from the tenant, bound the parties at the later stage of the same eviction proceedings.

Analysis: A determination made at an earlier stage of the same litigation may operate as binding between the parties at a subsequent stage, even though an interlocutory matter may otherwise be open to reconsideration in appeal against the final decision. Where the court, in the proceedings to set aside the ex parte order, expressly found that the landlord had agreed to withdraw the petition and had accepted rent, that finding could not be ignored later in the very same proceedings. The landlord did not challenge that finding at the appropriate stage, and the later courts were not entitled to brush it aside.

Conclusion: The earlier finding was binding in the subsequent stage of the same eviction matter, and the eviction petition could not be sustained.

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