No Proof Tenant's Son or Daughter Lived with Tenant for Two Years

Apartment occupants complained that landlord refused to give them a rent-stabilized renewal lease. They said that they were the son and daughter of the rent-stabilized tenant who had died, and that therefore they had pass-on rights. The DRA ruled against the occupants because they didn't prove that they had lived in the apartment as their primary residence with tenant for at least one year before tenant died in October 2006. Tenant's children appealed. They claimed that they gave the DRA sufficient proof that they had lived continuously with tenant since 2005.
The DHCR ruled against tenant's son and daughter. First, the DRA incorrectly found that the son had to prove he lived with tenant for one year. Since neither the son nor daughter was a senior citizen or disabled, they had to prove they had lived with tenant for two years immediately before she died. Tenant's daughter admitted that she lived somewhere else on the date of tenant's death certificate and said that tenant's son was living in the apartment. Tenant's son had a passport from Ecuador. He stated that he had lived periodically with tenant during the 25 years before she died and continuously during the last two years. But the son submitted no documents to the DRA. With his PAR, tenant's son submitted for the first time W-2 forms for 2006 and 2007 showing the apartment as his address. But there was nothing for 2004 and 2005, and he offered no reasonable excuse for not submitting these documents to the DRA. Tenant's son also submitted a DHCR RA-23.5 form dated Aug. 17, 2006, signed by tenant and stating that her son had lived with her since 2004. But this document was self-serving, and tenant's signature on this form appeared different from other signatures found on leases and other records.