Tenant's Minor Child Can't Get Apartment After Seven-Year Absence

Facts: Tenant moved into rent-stabilized apartment with her 10-year-old son in 1985. Tenant died in 1989. Tenant's brother temporarily moved into the apartment with tenant's son, but then they all moved to Georgia. Later, when tenant's lease was due to expire, landlord sent tenant's estate a nonrenewal notice. Tenant's brother, as the son's guardian, then sued landlord and asked the court to declare that landlord's nonrenewal notice was defective and that the apartment was the son's primary residence. The trial court ruled for tenant's son, and landlord appealed. Court: Landlord wins. At the time tenant's last lease expired after her death, the son had already moved to Georgia with relatives. He was no longer in occupancy of the apartment. He also had never returned to the apartment and maintained no real connection with it. The apartment had been vacant for seven years. In addition, any defects in landlord's nonrenewal notice were irrelevant since landlord never started an eviction proceeding.

Hughes v. Lenox Hill Hospital: NYLJ, p. 25, col. 3 (12/5/96) (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Wallach, JP, Rubin, Nardelli, Williams, Andrias, JJ)