Landlord Must Restore Tenant's Son to Possession After Lockout

Tenant's son sued landlord NYCHA for illegal lockout. NYCHA asked the court to dismiss the case, claiming that occupant didn't have legal standing to claim illegal lockout. The son claimed that he had lived in the unit with tenant since 2006. She passed away in 2014 and he remained there. He said he was unable to return there after the Fire Dept. placed an additional latch on the door following a fire. The son also claimed that, before she died, tenant had made efforts to add him to the apartment's household composition. Landlord's property manager testified that she learned only in 2020 that tenant was deceased and that NYCHA's records listed tenant as the only apartment occupant. But the son's brother had filed an unsuccessful remaining family member grievance with NYCHA in 2017.

The court ruled for tenant's son and directed NYCHA to restore him to possession. Generally, to have standing to commence an illegal lockout proceeding, an occupant must be in "peaceable possession" of the unit and therefore be a tenant in "possession." RPAPL Section 768, added in June 2019, could be interpreted to give licensees such as tenant's son standing to make an illegal lockout claim. In any event, while it could be unfair to permit someone who didn't file a remaining family member grievance proceeding to "jump the line," NYCHA took no action for seven years after 2013, when it no longer received annual income affidavits from tenant. And NYCHA had notice of tenant's death by at least 2017 when it denied the remaining family member application of tenant's other son. So landlord must restore tenant's now homeless son to possession as soon as possible based on Fire Dept. guidance. Even if the son ultimately lost a remaining family member grievance claim, he showed some proof that he'd lived in the apartment for more than 10 years. And it would be unfair to lose one's home of that duration without notice or opportunity to plan for an orderly relocation in the midst of a pandemic. 

Watson v. NYCHA-Brevoort Houses: Index No. 11660/2020, 2020 NY Slip Op 20335 (Civ. Ct. Kings; 12/14/20; Stoller, J)