Tenant's Estate Needn't Be Named in Eviction Case Against Tenant's Son

Landlord of HUD/Section 8 housing sued to evict tenant’s son after tenant died. The son asked the court to dismiss the case. He claimed that landlord’s petition was fatally defective because landlord failed to name tenant’s estate as a party to the case. The court ruled for tenant’s son, finding that tenant’s lease had renewed automatically for one year on June 1, 2007. Landlord sent tenant’s son a notice to quit after June 1, while the automatic renewal was in effect and therefore should have joined tenant’s estate to the eviction proceeding.

Landlord appealed and won. Tenant’s Section 8 lease contained no provision that the lease would terminate upon tenant’s death. But even so, the lease didn’t automatically renew on June 1, 2007, because tenant died before that date and didn’t file an annual income recertification. Tenant’s lease required her to recertify annually as a condition for lease renewal. Since a deceased tenant can’t recertify, there was no automatic renewal. Tenant’s last lease expired on May 31, 2007, before landlord sent tenant’s son a notice to quit the apartment. So tenant’s estate had no interest in the apartment at the time the notice was sent, and the estate wasn’t a necessary party to the eviction proceeding. There also was no claim that tenant’s estate was in possession of the apartment.

Marine Terrace Associates v. Kesoglides: 2009 N.Y. Slip Op. 29215, 2009 WL 1395758 (5/14/09) (App. T. 2 Dept.; Weston, JP, Golia, Steinhardt, JJ)