Landlord Gets Apartment for Son

Landlord applied for permission not to renew tenant's lease based on owner occupancy. The DRA ruled for landlord after holding a hearing. Tenant appealed, claiming landlord wasn't acting in good faith. Tenant had filed a rent overcharge complaint; also, another apartment had been available to the landlord's son a few months earlier. The DHCR ruled against tenant. Landlord showed that her 21-year-old son was sleeping on a pull-out bed in landlord's dining room, was starting his own business, and that tenant's apartment was the only one in the building with an expiring lease whose rent the son could afford. Landlord demonstrated immediate and compelling need for a separate apartment for her son. The fact that another apartment had been available a few months earlier didn't prove bad faith because that apartment's rent was $250 more than tenant's. Landlord also showed that she was not retaliating for tenant's rent overcharge complaint.

Bath: DHCR Adm. Rev. Dckt. No. JK910174RT (5/30/96) [3-page document]