Ex-Wife Can't Get Rent-Stabilized Apartment

Landlord sued to evict tenant for illegally subletting or assigning his rent-stabilized apartment. Tenant had moved out and sent landlord a letter surrendering his tenancy, although he didn't return the keys. The court issued a judgment of possession and eviction warrant in landlord's favor. An apartment occupant, who was tenant's ex-wife, then asked the court to restore her to possession and delay re-renting the apartment. She claimed succession rights. The court allowed the wife back into the apartment but then ruled against her claim. Tenant permanently vacated the apartment in January 2019 when the marshal executed the eviction warrant. The ex-wife needed to prove she lived in the apartment with tenant as a family member from January 2017 to January 2019. But she divorced tenant in September 2018 and therefore was no longer his spouse during the four months immediately prior to his vacatur in January 2019. She also failed to prove that she and tenant were in a committed and interdependent relationship for two years immediately prior to the eviction date. So the ex-wife had no succession rights to the apartment.

Westchester Plaza v. Watson: 63 Misc.3d 1202(A), 2019 NY Slip Op 50327(U) (City Ct. Mt. Vernon; 3/19/19; Armstrong, J)