Landlord Doesn't Prove Tenant Moved to Brooklyn

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant for nonprimary residence. Landlord claimed that tenant had moved to Brooklyn in 2009 and no longer maintained the Manhattan apartment as his primary residence. The trial court ruled against landlord, finding that landlord failed to prove that tenant listed another voting address, that tenant spent fewer than 183 days in the apartment in the most recent calendar year, or that tenant ever sublet the apartment. Tenant showed, through credible testimony by himself and other family members, that he had lived in the apartment since 1994, and that he bought the Brooklyn two-family house in 2003, where his wife and children moved to when he and the wife divorced. Tenant and his daughter also showed that while some of tenant’s records were mailed to the Brooklyn address, this was due to tenant’s limited ability to understand English and because his daughter handled his finances and affairs.

BDS Associates, LLC v. Lin: 50 Misc.3d 1208(A), 2016 NY Slip Op 50026(U) (Civ. Ct. NY; 1/14/16; Kraus, J)