Tenant of Low-Income Housing Co-op Was Nonprimary Resident

Tenant rented an apartment in low-income cooperative housing, and said her brother would live with her. Tenant’s lease gave her the option to buy the apartment’s co-op shares if she complied with the lease terms. Tenant sued landlord because it refused to sell the shares to her. Landlord claimed that tenant had breached her lease and therefore had no right to the shares. The court ruled for landlord and dismissed the case. Tenant admitted that she didn’t live in the apartment as her primary residence, and that her brother never moved in. Instead, tenant sublet the apartment to nonrelatives while she lived in New Jersey with her mother. Tenant’s lease required her to use the apartment as her primary residence. Since she breached the lease, landlord did not have to sell the co-op shares to her.

Dukes v. 45-53 W. 110 St. HDFC: NYLJ, 8/4/10, p. 26, col. 1 (Sup. Ct. NY; James, J)