Courtney Love is fighting eviction from her West Village townhouse, insisting she hasn’t fallen behind on rent. Love, who’s been renting the property on West 10th Street for 10 months at $27,000 a month, is accused by owner Donna Lyon of owing $54,000 in rent, redecorating the Steven Gambrel-designed interior without permission and setting the place on fire. But Love told us, “I haven’t fallen behind on the rent — I have been paying month to month as agreed. My rent is current, but the owner is now asking for the remaining two months’ upfront. Even though it’s not required, I’d happily pay that and another six months’ rent upfront if she would extend the lease for six months. I have repainted, but I asked permission, and used a painter approved by the owner.” Sources said Lyon’s suit and eviction attempt could be a ploy to draw publicity to the property to help sell it. The rocker admits a candle started a small fire in June, but the FDNY quickly put it out. Love’s lawyer, Eric D. Sherman of Pryor Cashman, said, “I am unaware of any suit concerning alterations to the townhouse. It’s unfortunate that Miss Lyon and her attorney chose to attack my client unfairly in the press, and we will deal with that accordingly. What we won’t do is respond in a similarly inappropriate manner.” He added he would demonstrate the rent claim “has no merit.” But Lyon lawyer Norman Flitt, added,“There are two disputes: One is the rent nonpayment issue, which will be heard in court on Dec. 21. The other is the issue with the redecoration. If Courtney Love doesn’t restore the property to its original condition by the end of the lease on Feb. 14, we have the right to sue her for damages. We didn’t give consent for them to do what they did to the house. It doesn’t matter what painter they used. They should be telling you what they are doing to fix it.”