Rent-Stabilized Tenant's Son Can't Get Renewal Lease While Tenant Still Living in Apartment

Rent-stabilized tenant's son complained to the DHCR that landlord refused to offer him a renewal lease. Landlord claimed that the son didn't live in the apartment. In response, the son claimed that he'd lived in the apartment with the tenant since 1978, that he had keys and received mail at the apartment address, that he never moved out, and that he knew landlord, the super, and other tenants. The DRA sent the son a Request for Additional Information in 2024 concerning the son's apparent succession rights claim. The DRA ruled against the son after he didn't respond.

The son appealed and lost, claiming that he never received the RFAI. He claimed that the mailbox had been compromised and gave the DHCR a new address for sending him mail. The DRA sent the son another copy of the RFAI at the alternate address, but he didn't respond. The DHCR also noted that the rent-stabilized tenant stilll lived at the apartment so the son currently had no succession right to a renewal lease.

Humphreys: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. MR610031RT (11/6/24)[2-pg. document]