Rent-Controlled Tenant Moved to Nursing Home

(Decision submitted by Joel Mitofsky of the Manhattan law firm of Mitofsky & Shapiro, attorneys for the landlord.) Landlord sued to evict rent-controlled tenant for nonprimary residence. Tenant was 93. She had moved into senior citizen rental housing in Westchester in 1991 and was subsequently placed in a nursing home. The trial court ruled for tenant, and landlord appealed. The appeals court reversed and ruled for landlord. Tenant's medical report stated that she suffered from senile dementia, and her affairs were managed by her accountant. Given tenant's advanced age and condition, her absence from the apartment for over four years, and her placement in a full-care nursing facility, the apartment couldn't be considered her primary residence any longer. The rent control law was designed to protect those actually living in the apartments; the primary residence provisions provided no exception for occupants of nursing homes.

Manor Place Associates v. Neville: NYLJ, p. 21, col. 2 (8/4/95) (App. T. 1 Dept.; Parness, JP, McCooe, Glen, JJ)