Rent-Controlled Tenant's Son Gets Apartment

The son of rent-controlled tenants asked the DHCR to determine that he had succession rights to the apartment. He said that he had lived in the apartment with his parents his whole life but had received a 10-day notice to vacate the apartment after tenants died. Landlord notified the DHCR that it had started an eviction proceeding against tenants' son and that the case should be decided there. The DRA ruled for tenants' son based on documents he submitted showing that he had lived for a number of years in the apartment. The DRA also noted that the court case had been marked off the court's calendar pending landlord's review of documentation presented by tenants' son. Landlord appealed, arguing that the court case was still pending and that landlord wasn't given a chance to respond to the DHCR complaint. The DHCR ruled against landlord. Although landlord claimed that it wasn't aware that the DRA would rule on the case, the DRA sent landlord a notice of the proceeding and advised landlord to respond within a certain length of time. The court case was marked off the calendar at the time that the DRA made its ruling. And the DHCR had the authority to rule on succesion issues even if landlord had commenced a court case on the same grounds.

Garden Bay, LLC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. VB120044RO (9/18/07) [5-pg. doc.]