100-year-old woman says landlord trying to evict her

SMITHTOWN, Suffolk County (WABC) -- There is a nasty landlord-tenant dispute involving a 100-year-old woman, who for the past year has been in and out of hospitals recovering from a broken hip.

She's now suing her landlords on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Ms. Justa Lopez claims they're trying to evict her from her rent-controlled apartment.

Ms. Lopez, 100 years old, has not been in her $150/month apartment for one year.

So she and her attorney say her landlords want her out. There is a lawsuit about this.

Ms. Lopez believes the landlord wants the place to fix and rent for closer to $3,000/month.

She lives on 1st Avenue on the Upper East Side.

She has lived there since 1963 when her rent initially was $57 per month.

Ms. Lopez has a two-bedroom rent-controlled apartment that she has called home all these years.

It goes for $149.41 exactly and she has not missed a payment.

She has been out of her apartment for one year, recuperating on Long Island, because she says her walker rolled away from her, causing her to fall and break her pelvis on the same floors that she had complained about being terribly uneven.

Now she wants back in, but her landlords want her out.

She will see them in court.

Her attorney, Adam Leitman Bailey, is not taking money to represent her.

He says the law and the courts are on the tenant's side.

He says it is all on Google. Arm yourself with information, he says. And call 311 with complaints. Keep notes on everything and take pictures.

There was no comment Wednesday from the management company that represents the landlords.