Grandson of Nonpurchasing Co-op Tenant Gets Succession Rights

Rent-stabilized tenant moved into the apartment in 1975. In 1984, tenant remained in the apartment when the building was converted to a non-eviction cooperative. When tenant died in 2008, the apartment owner gave tenant's daughter a renewal lease as a successor tenant. The owner later sued tenant, claiming that this was a mutual mistake because the apartment became deregulated when tenant died. The court granted tenant's request to dismiss the case.

The owner appealed and lost. Under General Business Law Section 352-eeee(2)(c)(vii), case law, and the terms of the non-eviction co-op conversion plan, tenant's daughter was entitled to succession rights under Rent Stabilization Code Section 2523.5(b)(1). It was undisputed that she and tenant's grandson moved into the apartment with tenant in 2003, five years before tenant died. Tenant's grandson also was entitled to succession rights because he lived in the apartment with tenant's daughter for at least two years before she eventually moved out.  

Salomone & Co., LLC v. Rosenberg: App. No. 12462-12462A, Case No. 2020-02085, 2020 NY Slip Op 06969 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 11/24/20; Friedman, JP, Manzanet-Daniels, Oing, Kennedy, JJ)