Landlord's Eviction Case Against Former Super Dismissed

Landlord sued to evict its former building superintendent after the super's employment was terminated. The super asked the court to rule in his favor without a trial. Landlord in turn asked the court to rule in its favor without a trial. The super said that he originally moved into landlord's building as a tenant with a lease and then moved into a basement apartment in the building in 2013 and paid $300 per month in "rent" for two or three years. He worked for landlord at two buildings until March 2022, and landlord had denied his request to limit his work to one building. 

The court dismissed the case without prejudice because landlord failed to fully and properly plead the regulatory status of the super's apartment in its court petition. Failure to plead an apartment's rent regulatory status and compliance with the appropriate statutes and codes, and failure to actually be in compliance with them, is a fatal defect in the court papers. While landlord pointed out that the RSC exempts superintendents from rent stabilization protection, landlord's petition contained no statement as to whether the premises was subject to rent stabilization.  

2515 LLC v. Bencosme: Index No. 307001/22, 2023 NY Slip Op 50063(U)(Civ. Ct. NY; 1/17/23; Bacdayan, J)