Tenant's Family Member Didn't Prove Succession Rights

Tenant's family member applied for pass-on rights after tenant died. Landlord housing company denied his request, and the DHCR denied his appeal of the housing company ruling. The family member then appealed, claiming that the DHCR's decision was arbitrary and unreasonable. The court and appeals court ruled against the family member. Although he presented some proof of having lived in the apartment, there was no notice of change or income affidavits from tenant showing that the family member had lived in the apartment with tenant as his primary residence for at least two years before tenant died. So the DHCR's decision was reasonable since tenant's family member didn't meet the succession requirements.

Cognata v. DHCR: NYLJ, 3/10/11, p. 29, col. 2 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Andrias, JP, Catterson, Moskowitz, Abdus-Salaam, Roman, JJ)