SRO Hotel Guest Who Requests Lease Becomes Permanent Tenant

Occupant, a taxi driver, checked into SRO hotel at 3 p.m. for the night of Aug. 3, 2015, and paid for the room. On that date, occupant gave landlord a written request to become the permanent tenant of the room by requesting a six-month lease. Occupant delivered the request in person and by mail. Occupant shared the room with another person who had rented the other bunk bed and who checked out the next day. Occupant made a second reservation online for a room for Aug. 4 through Aug. 11. In the meantime, landlord asked occupant to leave the room he was in and return after 3 p.m. to check in again for his next reservation. Occupant refused and claimed that he was entitled to remain as a permanent tenant. Landlord also refused to accept payment from occupant for the additional nights. Landlord called the police, and occupant left at their request. Occupant came back after 3 p.m. and asked for the same room he had been in the night before. Landlord offered to place him in a different room, which occupant refused. Occupant then sued landlord, seeking to be restored to possession of the room he stayed in.

The court ruled for occupant. Landlord had a policy of not renting rooms to anyone who lived in New York City. Occupant knew this and didn’t give landlord his address when he checked in. Landlord’s building was an SRO registered as rent stabilized, although the unit in question was registered most years as temporarily exempt based on transient SRO occupancy. Rent Stabilization Code Section 2520.6(j) and 2522.5(a)(2) provide that occupants of rent-stabilized hotels who request a lease of six months or more become permanent tenants even if their actual occupancy has been for less than six months, and landlord must grant the request within 15 days. RSC Section 2522.5(c)(2) also requires landlords to give people checking into hotel-stabilized buildings notice of their right to become permanent tenants. Landlord’s act of calling the police and using the police to intimidate occupant into leaving the room after he asserted the right to become a permanent tenant was designed to evade landlord’s obligations under the rent stabilization law. Landlord’s policies of not renting rooms to NYC residents and telling people that the maximum permissible stay was 14 days also were designed to evade the rent stabilization law. Occupant was unlawfully evicted and must be restored to possession.

Ouattara v. Audthan LLC: 49 Misc.3d 1206(A), 2015 NY Slip Op 51496(U) (Civ. Ct. NY; 10/9/15; Kraus, J)