No Proof Tenant Let Boyfriend Use Apartment for Illegal Activities

Landlord sued to evict rent-controlled tenant after her boyfriend was arrested in her apartment with guns and cocaine. The court ruled against landlord. Landlord didn't prove that tenant knew or agreed to the use of her apartment for illegal activity. The police chased the boyfriend into the building after noticing that he was sitting on the stoop and had a machine gun under his coat. The boyfriend dropped a revolver in the building staircase and ran into tenant's apartment. The police followed and found the machine gun hidden in a closet. Tenant and her children showed up shortly thereafter but weren't questioned in connection with any crime. There also was no drug paraphernalia in the apartment. There was no history of drug or firearms activity in the apartment, and the two guns weren't found in the apartment before the boyfriend ran in there and hid the machine gun. This was a single incident, and there was no proof of any connection between the boyfriend's actions and tenant.

TPE 710 RSD v. McKenny: NYLJ, 1/9/08, p. 27, col. 1 (Civ. Ct. NY; Finkelstein, J)