Landlord Proved Apartment Was Vacancy Deregulated

Landlord sued to evict unregulated tenant. The trial court ruled for landlord and granted landlord's request that tenant pay use and occupancy totalling $10,880.

Tenant appealed and lost. Landlord proved that the apartment was deregulated in 2006, before tenant moved in. Through DHCR rent registrations and lease records, landlord showed that: (a) the prior tenant was rent stabilized at a legal rent of $1,873; (b) the addition of a vacancy increase when tenant moved in put the legal rent over the vacancy deregulation threshold; and (c) tenant was given a "Notice to First Tenant of Apartment Deregulated After Vacancy Due to a Rent of $2,000 or More."

The fact that landlord later mistakenly registered the apartment as rent stabilized, or that prior landlord gave tenant renewal leases using rent stabilization forms didn't make tenant rent stabilized. Rent stabilization coverage is a matter of statutory right and can't be created by waiver or estoppel.

Cvek 446 E. 88th St. LLC v. Fish: Index No. 570037/19, 2020 NY Slip Op 50602(U)(App. T. 1; 5/22/20; Shulman, PJ, Cooper, Edmead, JJ)