DHCR Grants Pass-on Rights to Son While Tenant "Temporarily Exempt" from Primary Residence Requirements

A rent-controlled tenant's son asked the DHCR for a ruling that he had succession rights to tenant's apartment. The DRA ruled for the son. Landlord appealed and lost. The DHCR pointed out that, in a prior proceeding, the DRA had ruled on Dec. 9, 2006, that the apartment and tenant were ren controlled since tenant moved in before July 1, 1971. In another prior proceeding, the DRA had ruled on May 11, 2017, that landlord couldn't evict the rent-controlled tenant, who was elderly, disabled, and/or had lived in the apartment for over 20 years. In that case, although the tenant had been living in an assisted living facility due to illness since June 2015, the DRA found that there was nothing to indicate that the tenant and his family had vacated the apartment.  

So, in this case, the DHCR found that the DRA properly granted a temporary exemption from any primary residency requirements to tenant since he was over 62 and receiving services at the long-term care facility since 2015. The DRA also properly found that tenant's son was entitled to residency in the apartment and eligible for succession rights if the tenant permanently vacated the apartment.

Budhu: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. JQ620002RO (12/9/22)[4-pg. document]