Nontraditional Family Member Gets Rent-Stabilized Tenant's Apartment

Landlord sued to evict apartment occupant after rent-stabilized tenant died in 2011. Occupant claimed succession rights. The trial court ruled for landlord, finding that occupant didn't establish that she was a family member. Occupant appealed and lost, then appealed to a higher court.

The higher appeals court ruled for occupant and found that she qualified as tenant's nontraditional family member. The trial court had found that occupant was merely a friend, roommate, and business colleague of tenant's. But trial testimony showed that tenant and occupant were a couple in a relationship like a traditional marriage. Occupant testified at trial that she met tenant in early 1979 and after a few months they became romantically involved and she moved in with tenant. After nine and a half years, they broke up, and occupant moved out in 1988. But she remained in touch with tenant and moved back into the apartment with him in 2003. Tenant took care of household expenses while occupant took care of all domestic chores. Occupant was financially dependent on tenant for employment and worked solely for tenant in his home business until his death, as one might do in a family business. Occupant testified that they also accompanied each other to doctor appointments. Tenant slept in the living room while occupant slept in the bedroom, inconsistent with a mere roommate relationship, since he paid the rent. There was also proof of intermingled funds, including a joint bank account. Tenant's funeral home document also referred to occupant as his "wife."

The fact that occupant moved back in with tenant in 2003 due to her own housing problems, and the couple's lack of sexual intimacy, didn't diminish their relationship. Occupant showed that the couple shared decades of dedication, caring, and self-sacrifice, as in a traditional marriage. Occupant proved she was a nontraditional family member entitled to succession rights.

530 Second Ave. Co. LLC v. Zenker: 2018 NY Slip Op 02143, 2018 WL 1473175 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 3/27/18; Andrias, JP, Gesmer, Kern, Singh, Moulton, JJ)