Co-op Can Evict Shareholder Tenant Whose Daughter Lived in Apartment Without Tenant

Landlord co-op corporation sued to evict shareholder tenant for permitting tenant’s daughter to live in the apartment while tenant lived elsewhere. Landlord asked the court to rule in its favor without a trial. The court ruled against landlord, who appealed and won. It was undisputed that tenant breached paragraph 14 of her proprietary lease, which stated that the apartment couldn’t be used for any purpose “other than as a private dwelling for the lessee and lessee’s spouse, their children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters and domestic employees.” The language was correctly interpreted as permitting occupancy by the listed persons only if tenant maintained a concurrent occupancy. Tenant’s counterclaim also was properly stricken by the lower court. Tenant’s claim that landlord made “intentional efforts” to “wrongfully terminate” the lease failed to state a claim for breach of the warranty of habitability. Tenant also couldn’t claim breach of warranty since she admittedly wasn’t living in the apartment.

230-79 Equity, Inc. v. Frank: 50 Misc.3d 144(A), 2016 NY Slip Op 50245(U) (App. T. 1 Dept.; 3/1/16; Lowe III, PJ, Schoenfled, Shulman, JJ)