Tenant Illegally Locked Out of Apartment

Rent-stabilized tenant sued landlord, claiming illegal lockout from his apartment. Landlord claimed that tenant had given up the apartment. In October 2007, the super's daughter and her husband moved into the two-bedroom apartment. Tenant claimed that they were his roommates. The super's daughter testified that she moved into an empty apartment and paid tenant $1,000 for fixtures. She had hoped that she could take over the lease. But landlord sued to evict her and her husband, and she moved out and gave landlord the keys after changing the locks. Tenant was then unable to get back into the apartment and sued landlord. Landlord argued that tenant had sold his rights to the apartment to the super's daughter. The court ruled for tenant. Tenant had no rights to sell to the super's daughter who appeared to be an illegal subtenant. But tenant had the right to a rent-stabilized lease. A subtenant or roommate can't surrender the rights of a tenant. Landlord must restore tenant to occupancy of the apartment.

Delgado v. 1038 Southern Blvd. Realty Assoc.: NYLJ, 5/28/08, p. 27, col. 1 (Civ. Ct. Bronx; Alpert, J)