No Succession Rights for Daughter Where Rent-Stabilized Tenant Still Lived in the Apartment

Apartment occupant filed a lease violation complaint with the DHCR, claiming that landlord refused to give her a lease in her own name after the rent-stabilized tenant moved out. The occupant claimed that she was the tenant's daughter and had succession rights. She submitted documentation showing the apartment address as her address. But the occupant also admitted that tenant was currently residing in the apartment but claiming that the tenant's primary residence was in the Dominican Republic. The DRA ruled against the occupant because the tenant still lived in the apartment and the occupant therefore wasn't entitled to succession.

The occupant appealed and lost. RSC Section 2523.5(b) and DHCR Fact Sheet #30 provide that a family member has succession rights if she lived in an apartment as her primary residence for two years immediately prior to the permanent departure of the rent-stabilized tenant. But, here, the record before the DRA didn't establish that the tenant had permanently vacated. As of June 2023, occupant acknowledged that the tenant was still in the apartment. There was no way to determine from the proof presented to the DRA that tenant's stay was temporary. The fact that tenant may travel back and forth between the Dominican Republic and the apartment also didn't amount to permanent vacatur from the apartment.

Ramirez: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. LS410012RT (10/10/23)[2-pg. document]