Landlord Can Sue Tenant for Back Rent as U&O for Period When No Renewal Lease in Effect

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant for payment of use and occupancy. Tenant had rented two combined apartments from landlord. In a prior action, tenant sued landlord claiming rent overcharge and improper deregulation. Landlord admitted the unit was rent stabilized, and the court dismissed the overcharge claim in 2020, noting that some overcharges in 2015 and 2016 had been refunded. In the new action, landlord sought payment of rent unpaid since the prior dispute as "use and occupancy" rather than rent. Tenant had gone for some period without a renewal lease and, as noted by the court, the expiration of a rent-stabilized lease does not create a month-to-month tenancy because the respective rights and responsibilities of a landlord and tenant under a month-to-month tenancy can't be reconciled with the respective rights and responsibilities of a landlord and tenant of a rent-stabilized apartment. But landlord could still seek use and occupancy from tenant who remained in possession of the apartment with an implied continuance of her tenancy on the same terms and subject to the same agreements as those contained in the original lease. The court granted a money judgment for landlord against tenant for almost $530,000, with interest at the statutory rate from July 2020, plus costs and disbursements.

Lichter Real Estate No. One, LLC v. Schrader: Index No. 160809/2022, 2024 NY Slip Op 24240 (Sup. Ct. NY; 8/6/24; Lebovits, J)