Landlord's Nonrenewal Notice Didn't State Sufficient Facts

Landlord sued to evict two rent-stabilized tenants for owner occupancy. Landlord's lease nonrenewal notices stated that he was one of the individual owners of the building and that he sought in good faith to recover the apartments so they could be occupied by landlord's son. Tenant asked the court to dismiss the case. Tenant claimed that the nonrenewal notice didn't state the facts upon which the eviction proceeding was based. The court ruled for tenant. Landlord appealed, claiming that it was enough to name who was seeking the apartment.
The appeals court ruled against landlord. Landlord's notices merely tracked the language of the Rent Stabilization Code and provided the name of the person seeking to occupy the apartment. Landlord didn't set forth any facts to support his claim of a good-faith intent to occupy tenants' apartments. One of the appeals court judges disagreed with the court's decision, stating that it was enough that landlord's notice named the family member who was going to occupy the apartments as well as his relationship to landlord.

Giancola v. Middleton: NYLJ, 9/24/08, p. 41, col. 1 (App. T. 2 Dept.; Rios, JP, Pesce, Golia, JJ); Giancola v. Whitman: NYLJ, 9/24/08, p. 41, col. 3 (App. T. 2 Dept.; Rios, JP, Pesce, Golia, JJ)