Landlord's Employee Was Rent-Stabilized Tenant

Landlord sued to evict a building employee as a licensee who no longer had permission to live in two apartments that landlord claimed were exempt from rent stabilization. The court ruled against landlord, who appealed and lost. Neither apartment was registered with the DHCR as temporarily exempt, and landlord accepted rent from the employee for many years. There was no indication that either apartment was necessary for the employee to perform his duties. The licensee was already a senior level employee when he leased the first apartment at a preferential $1,200 per month rent. A lease rider stated that, if employment was terminated, the employee's rent would return to the legal rent of $2,100. There also was no proof that the employee exchanged his rent-stabilized status when landlord gave him permission to combine the first apartment with the adjoining apartment, even though he then signed a license agreement. There was no statement in that agreement that the employee was giving up any rights under rent stabilization.

Majestic Realty Corp. v. Orgel: 2018 NY Slip Op 28210, 2018 WL 3321323 (App. T. 1 Dept.; 7/5/18; Ling-Cohan, JP, Cooper, Edmead, JJ)