Landlord Must Add Spouse's Name to Tenant's Renewal Lease
LVT Number: #24748
Rent-stabilized tenant complained that landlord refused to grant her request to add her husband's name to her renewal lease. The DRA ruled for tenant, finding that tenant had the right to have her spouse's named added to the lease. Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord claimed that it wasn't required to grant tenant's request because, at the time it was made, the husband wasn't a primary resident of the apartment. When tenant made the request, she stated that the husband would be moving into the apartment on Dec. 7, 2010. At that point, the renewal lease already had been offered. The DHCR noted that tenant's complaint was filed on Dec. 17, 2010, after her spouse moved in. Under the Rent Stabilization Code, and provided that the spouse is a primary resident, landlord is required to amend the lease, whether already in force or having been merely offered, in order to add the name of a leaseholder's spouse as a primary tenant of record.
Melohn: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. AQ410007RO (2/14/13) [3-pg. doc.]