Landlord Didn't Show Good-Faith Need for Apartment

Facts: Tenant moved into rent-stabilized apartment in 1996. Seven months later, landlord claimed he needed tenant's first-floor apartment for occupancy by his granddaughter. Landlord claimed that his granddaughter had epilepsy and that the first-floor apartment would eliminate risks caused by stairs and seizures. Landlord sent tenant a termination notice and sued to evict tenant based on owner occupancy. Tenant claimed that after he took occupancy, he married a Korean woman who now lived in the apartment with him, and that landlord had made overtly discriminatory remarks against Koreans and didn't want tenant's wife in the building. Court: Landlord loses. Landlord didn't prove a good-faith intent to recover the apartment for his granddaughter's occupancy. Among other things, landlord claimed he wasn't ready to give the apartment to his granddaughter when he rented the apartment to tenant in August 1996, but couldn't explain what changed seven months later. Landlord also presented no proof of his granddaughter's claimed medical condition. An independent witness also testified believably that he heard landlord make a disparaging remark showing ethnic bias against tenant's wife. The court found that landlord was motivated by a desire to evict tenant rather than to secure the apartment for his family member.

Obloj v. Shaw: NYLJ, p. 31, col. 2 (5/13/98) (Civ. Ct. Kings; Wendt, J)