Tenant's Sister Can Seek Dismissal of Nonpayment Case

Landlord sued to evict Mitchell-Lama tenant for nonpayment of rent. Tenant failed to appear in court. Tenant's sister did appear and claimed that landlord's rent demand was defective. The court ruled for landlord, finding that tenant's sister had no right to answer the petition. Tenant's sister appealed and won. Tenant's sister said that tenant had moved out and that she had succession rights to the apartment. Generally, only tenant can raise defenses to a nonpayment proceeding. But in this case, tenant's sister showed that she may have succession rights. She claimed that she lived in the apartment with tenant for at least three years before he moved out. HPD had to rule on this issue. In the meantime, tenant's sister could at least raise the fact that the rent demand didn't set forth the approximate good-faith amount of rent owed or the monthly periods for which rent was owed.

Rochdale Village, Inc. v. Goode: NYLJ, 6/28/07, p. 30, col. 1 (App. T. 2 Dept.; Golia, JP, Rios, Belen, JJ)