Landlords Can Recover SRO Apartment for Daughter's Use

(Decision submitted by Manhattan attorney Gary J. Wachtel, who represented the landlord.) Landlords, husband and wife, sued to evict rent-stabilized SRO tenant so that their daughter could live in the apartment. The building was a five-story walk-up brownstone. Landlords had lived with their daughter in a duplex apartment in the building since 1988. The other floors had SRO units. Landlords wanted to move their now adult daughter into tenant's apartment so that their son and daughter-in-law could move into the daughter's room in the duplex. Tenant claimed that landlords were just trying to get rid of him and that they weren't acting in good faith. The court ruled for landlords. The court found landlords' testimony to be believable. The fact that landlords allowed another tenant to sublet didn't show they lacked good faith. Just because tenant didn't see landlords' daughter at the building didn't prove she wouldn't move into his apartment. And landlords weren't required to convert a sewing room in their duplex into a bedroom for their daughter.

Horsford v. Bacott: L&T Index No. 110439/02 (Civ. Ct. NY 11/17/03; Bedford, J) [5-pg. doc.]