Is Landlord's Remaining Family Member Rent Stabilized?

Occupant lived all his life in the family apartment located in a six-unit building that his parents bought in 1951. He remained there after his parents and siblings moved out around 1980. After his father later died, his mother asked him to pay rent. He started doing so, at $300 per month, in 2001. The mother died in 2008, and occupant's siblings were appointed executors of her estate. Occupant agreed to their request to increase rent payments to $600 per month in 2009. In 2017, occupant sued the estate, seeking a judgment that he was a rent-stabilized tenant. The estate executors asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial. The court ruled for the executors, and occupant appealed. The appeals court reopened the case. The executors failed to prove that the apartment and the occupant weren't protected under the Rent Stabilization Law and Code. RSC Section 2520.6(d) defined a "tenant" to include "any person or persons named on a lease as lessee or lessees, or who is or are a party or parties to a rental agreement and obligated to pay rent for the use or occupancy of a housing accommodation." There were issues of fact as to whether occupant was a party to a "rental agreement." A trial was needed to determine the facts.

Chini v. Chini: Index Nos. 2018-09421, 2018-09422, 2020 NY Slip Op 07349 (App. Div. 2 Dept.; 12/9/20; Chambers, JP, Roman, Hinds-Radix, Duffy, JJ)