Rent-Stabilized Tenant's Daughter and Granddaughter Get Apartment

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant's daughter and granddaughter after tenant died. These family members claimed succession rights to the apartment. The court ruled for tenant's family members and dismissed the case.

Landlord appealed and lost. Credible testimony established that the daughter and granddaughter had lived with tenant in the apartment as their primary residence for at least two years before tenant died. They also presented at trial substantial amounts of documentary proof, including voting records, tax returns, telephone and bank records, and DMV records. The fact that tenant might have asserted in her applications for Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) benefits that she lived alone in the apartment was only one factor to be considered and didn't prevent the family members from claiming primary residence in the apartment while tenant lived there.

408 St. John's Place, LLC v. Estate of Bartholomew: Index No. 2017-1439KC, 2020 NY Slip Op 50892(U)(App. T. 2 Dept.; 7/24/20; Weston, JP, Elliot, Siegal, JJ)