Seabrook v. Commuter Housing Co.
Civil Court of the City of New York
338 N.Y.S.2d 67 (1972)
CHC (defendant) had Seabrook (plaintiff), unrepresented by counsel, sign a lease for an under-construction apartment containing clauses -- never explained to her -- allowing indefinite postponement of the lease's start date until construction finished; when the building was still incomplete months after the scheduled start, Seabrook asked to cancel, CHC refused, and only declared the lease effective four months late, prompting Seabrook's suit to recover her prepaid rent and deposit.
Whether unequal bargaining powers and the absence of a meaningful choice on the part of one of the parties, together with contract terms which unreasonably favor the other party, can be sufficient to constitute unconscionability.