Illegal Basement Used as Sixth Apartment

November 1, 2005

LVT Number: 18467

Landlord sued to evict tenant. Landlord claimed that tenant's apartment was unregulated. Tenant claimed that he was rent stabilized and asked the court to dismiss the case. The court ruled for tenant. Landlord appealed and lost. There was an illegal basement apartment in the building when landlord bought the building. This made the whole building subject to rent stabilization, even though landlord later removed the illegal apartment after getting a violation from HPD. Landlord claimed that he didn't know the illegal apartment was there when he bought the building.

Landlord sued to evict tenant. Landlord claimed that tenant's apartment was unregulated. Tenant claimed that he was rent stabilized and asked the court to dismiss the case. The court ruled for tenant. Landlord appealed and lost. There was an illegal basement apartment in the building when landlord bought the building. This made the whole building subject to rent stabilization, even though landlord later removed the illegal apartment after getting a violation from HPD. Landlord claimed that he didn't know the illegal apartment was there when he bought the building. But the fact remained that there were six apartments in the building after the base date.

Rashid v. Cancel: NYLJ, 10/12/05, p. 27, col. 1 (App. T. 2 Dept.; Pesce, PJ, Patterson, Belen, JJ)

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