Faye Dunaway to fight eviction from New York apartment

Actress Faye Dunaway poses after receiving The Legion of Honour from French Minister of Culture Frederic Mitterand at a ceremony held during the 64th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, May 15, 2011.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actress Faye Dunaway plans to fight a lawsuit aiming to evict her from her rent-controlled apartment in New York, her attorney said on Thursday.

Dunaway's landlord filed a complaint on August 2 seeking to evict her from the apartment on East 78th Street, alleging it is not her primary residence.

A hearing scheduled for Thursday before Judge John Stanley in New York City Civil Court was adjourned. Instead, Dunaway's lawyer Elizabeth Shollenberger met with the landlord's attorney, Craig Charie of Rosenberg & Estis, in an effort to resolve the matter.

"We didn't come to a settlement today," Shollenberger said afterwards. The parties will return to court October 4. Dunaway, 70, is in California, and was not present.

Dunaway first signed a lease for the one-bedroom apartment in 1994, and her rent is $1,048.72 a month. In court papers, Henry Moses of 7 of 8 Realty Co. claimed Dunaway maintains a home in West Hollywood, California, where she is registered to vote and has a driver's license.

Shollenberger told a crowd of reporters that the actress calls New York her home, and she is not voluntarily leaving the apartment.

"She has not moved out," the veteran housing lawyer said, contradicting what Dunaway said in a phone interview on August 3, when she said she left the apartment in May.

Dunaway has expressed concern about the condition of the apartment, Shollenberger said.

"There's water damage in the apartment that she said she's been complaining about for years," the attorney said. "For someone who is an older person, having water damage leads to all kinds of mold problems, respiratory problems."

Dunaway will be able to keep the apartment and continue to pay rent while the case is pending, Shollenberger said.

(Reporting by Jennifer Golson; Editing by Jerry Norton)