Title of Building Transferred from Corporate Landlord to Individual

Landlord sued to evict rent-stabilized tenant for owner occupancy. Tenant claimed that the termination notice was defective and asked the court to dismiss the case. The court ruled against tenant. Tenant appealed and lost. Three weeks before sending tenant a lease nonrenewal and termination notice, corporate landlord transferred ownership of the building to three individuals. One of the individuals then signed the termination notice and claimed that she needed tenant's apartment for owner occupancy. Tenant claimed that she could reject the termination notice because she didn't know who new landlord was. But this didn't matter. The building was properly transferred before the termination notice was sent, even though the deed wasn't recorded until a few weeks later. New landlord was entitled to send a termination notice.

Hankovszky v. Hill: NYLJ, 10/31/05, p. 28, col. 4 (App. T. 1 Dept.; McCooe, JP, Gangel-Jacob, Schoenfeld, JJ)