Rent-Stabilized Tenant's Aunt Didn't Prove Succession Rights

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant for not renewing her lease. Landlord also named apartment occupant, who was tenant's aunt, in the eviction proceeding. The tenant had moved out, and the aunt claimed succession rights to the apartment. The trial court ruled for landlord. The aunt failed to prove an emotional and financial commitment and interdependence with tenant required to establish she was a family member. A close friendship, by itself, isn't sufficient to characterize a nontraditional family relationship. Tenant and her aunt saw each other only two times a year before the aunt moved into the apartment and, three years later, saw each other only a few times a year. They also talked on the phone once a month after tenant moved out. "A lifetime relationship of casual personal contact that bookends a three-year interlude" where tenant and the aunt claimed they lived together was insufficient to prove succession rights. Tenant had moved into her grandmother's house several blocks away after her grandmother died, filed income tax returns from that address, and kept pets there. 

92nd St Venture v. Corbett: 65 Misc.3d 1221(A), 2019 NY Slip Op 51779(U)(Civ. Ct. NY; 11/6/19; Stoller, J)