Tenant's Son Arrested for Drugs

Facts: Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant for illegal use of her apartment. With two search warrants, police arrested tenant's adult son and others at the apartment for illegal drug activity. Tenant was at work at the time and wasn't involved in the drug dealing. Tenant claimed that she didn't know about her son's illegal activities. She worked a 24-hour shift away from home on Wednesdays through Sundays. Also, tenant had gotten a protective order from family court about a month before the arrest to remove her son from the apartment. It hadn't been delivered because the son had moved out, and tenant didn't know where he was. Tenant lived alone at the time of the arrest, although she hadn't changed the locks. Court: Landlord loses. Tenant had lived in the apartment for 22 years, hadn't done anything illegal herself, had no control over her adult child and did everything possible to correct the problem. Eviction of tenant in these circumstances wasn't justified.

88-09 Realty, LLC v. Hill: NYLJ 1/5/00, p. 31, col. 2 (Civ. Ct. Queens; Brown, J)