New Trial Needed on Wife's Claim to Apartment

Landlord sued to evict the wife of deceased rent-controlled tenant. She claimed succession rights, but landlord claimed that she had been absent from the apartment for a portion of the required two-year occupancy period before tenant died. The court ruled for landlord. Tenant's wife appealed, and the case was sent back for a new trial based on the lower court's errors. The Dead Man's statute didn't bar the admission of the wife's testimony as to her conversations and interactions with tenant both before and during what she claimed was an excused temporary relocation from the apartment. The court had initially ruled that her testimony on these points was admissible but later ruled that it wasn't. The wife had relied on the court's initial ruling. In addition, the fact that the wife was an undocumented alien didn't automatically prevent her from asserting succession rights to the rent-controlled apartment as a family member. 

1504 Associates LP v. Wescott: 2013 NY Slip Op 23244 (App. T. 1 Dept.; 7/19/13; Shulman, JP, Hunter Jr., Torres, JJ)