Landlords Can't Opt Out of Section 8 Voucher Program

Facts: At some point after rent-stabilized tenant's initial lease term, landlord agreed to accept Section 8 rent payments from NYCHA on tenant's behalf. A number of years later, landlord advised NYCHA that it no longer wished to participate in the Section 8 voucher program when tenant's lease was next renewed. Landlord stopped accepting the rent subsidy, tenant didn't pay the full rent, and landlord sued to evict tenant for nonpayment of rent. Tenant, in turn, sued landlord, claiming that landlord must remain in the Section 8 program. Tenant claimed that her Section 8 status became a term of her rent-stabilized tenancy that must be renewed. The court and appeals court ruled for tenant. Landlord then appealed to New York's highest court.

Court: Landlord loses. Landlord signed a "Tenancy Addendum" agreement with tenant and NYCHA when it began participation in the Section 8 program. Under the Tenancy Addendum, landlord agreed to accept Section 8 subsidy payments and that tenant wouldn't be responsible for that portion of the rent. The Tenancy Addendum became a term and condition of tenant's rent-stabilized lease. Under the Rent Stabilization Code, tenant's lease must be renewed on the same terms and conditions as her last lease. Although landlord also argued that the Rent Stabilization Code was preempted by federal law provisions that no longer required landlord to continue participating in Section 8 endlessly, these provisions weren't inconsistent with the Rent Stabilization Code. And the state law otherwise had the power to govern housing issues.

Rosario v. Diagonal Realty, LLC: NYLJ, 7/3/07, p. 24, col. 1 (NY Ct. App.; Pigott, J)