Nephew Gets Apartment Based on Witness Testimony

Facts: Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant's nephew after tenant died in 1993. Nephew claimed he'd lived with his uncle since November 1990 and was entitled to pass-on rights. Landlord showed that prior to 1993 his nephew paid taxes from his parents' Peekskill address. The nephew's voter registration and driver's license were also from that address. Three witnesses---tenant's housekeeper, close friend, and sister---all testified at the trial that the nephew had lived with his uncle since late 1990. Tenant had AIDS, and the nephew took care of him until he died. Landlord's day-shift doorman testified that he saw his nephew only sporadically until 1993. The trial court ruled for the nephew, and landlord appealed and won. The court said that the nephew provided no documentary proof that he lived with his uncle. The nephew then appealed. Court: The nephew wins. While there was little documentary proof of the nephew's primary residence, this wasn't the only permissible proof. The trial court found the nephew's witnesses believable. Landlord didn't rebut the testimony of these witnesses and only produced the day-shift doorman who wouldn't necessarily see the nephew because of the nephew's work schedule. Landlord didn't produce other doormen as witnesses. The court also rejected landlord's claim that the Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1997 should apply. Although the act amended the Rent Stabilization Law to remove the nephews from the list of family members qualifying for pass-on rights, this change wasn't retroactive.

300 E. 34th St. Co. v. Habeeb: NYLJ, p. 25, col. 3 (12/18/97) (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Murphy, PJ, Wallach, Nardelli, Tom, Colabella, JJ)