Tenant's Grandson Claims Succession Rights

Landlord sued to eject rent-controlled tenant and her grandson, claiming that tenant failed to maintain the apartment as her primary residence. Tenant had moved into a nursing home in 2009. The court ruled for landlord without a trial. Tenant appealed, and the case was reopened.

An agreement between landlord and tenant to deregulate the apartment was void as against public policy, a trial was needed to determine whether tenant's grandson had succession rights under rent stabilization and whether landlord created a month-to-month tenancy by accepting rent from grandson, and tenant was a necessary party in the action. In 1994, prior landlord and tenants' association had signed an agreement that, among other things, acknowledged that tenant was rent controlled. In 2006, landlord and tenants' association signed a new agreement stating that tenants who signed the new agreement were no longer rent regulated but would receive new 49-year leases, with an option to continue month-to-month after 49 years, with succession rights, as well as limits on annual rent increases. Landlord and each tenant who signed the agreement were required to submit a copy to the DHCR and request an order approving the agreement. The DHCR issued a deregulation order effective Jan. 1, 2006.

But the new agreement was void as a matter of law because it improperly modified the rent laws. Tenant's grandson claimed that tenant was rent controlled and that he had lived with her for more than two years before tenant moved to the nursing home. He admitted that he was away from the apartment from time to time for educational purposes. A trial was needed to determine the facts.

Extell Belnord LLC v. Uppman: 2013 NY Slip Op 07697, 2013 WL 6063743 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 11/19/13; Gonzalez, PJ, Mazzarelli, Acosta, Renwick, JJ)