Building Was Rent Stabilized Due to Illegal Sixth Apartment

Landlord sued to evict month-to-month tenant and claimed that the building was unregulated because it contained fewer than six apartments. Tenant claimed that the building had six apartments and that she therefore was rent stabilized. The court ruled for tenant and dismissed the case. The building’s Certificate of Occupancy stated that the building was a five-unit residential family building. But tenant produced documentation and testified credibly that she had been in each of the building’s six apartments. And the property manager testified inconsistently that the ground-floor rear apartment was a storage unit but also that it was a residential unit. Landlord didn’t rebut the tenant’s proof of six apartments. The use of an illegal unit as a residential unit created six apartments, and therefore tenant was rent stabilized.

Boreland v. Blackwood: Index No. 90899/15, NYLJ 1202778475567 (Civ. Ct. Kings; 1/6/17; Stanley, J)