Partnership Can't Recover Apartment

(Decision submitted by Anthony R. Mordente of the Queens law firm of Mordente, Golfinopoulos & Pennisi, P.C., attorneys for the tenant.) Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant, claiming that he needed the apartment for his son's occupancy. Tenant claimed that the individual named as ''petitioner'' in the eviction case wasn't landlord. Tenant's original lease, renewal lease, rent checks, and broker's agreement all referred to 47 Jane Street Realty Co., a partnership, as the building's landlord. Petitioner showed an uncertified copy of a 1985 deed listing him as grantee but didn't explain why all the rental documents named a partnership as landlord. The court ruled for tenant and dismissed the case. A partnership can't recover an apartment in an owner-occupancy case, and petitioner couldn't claim he was landlord since he didn't explain why the original lease and renewal lease designated the building's landlord as 47 Jane Street Realty Co.

Miller v. Milewicz: NYLJ, p. 27, col. 3 (1/21/98) (Civ. Ct. NY; Kornreich, J)