Trial Must Determine Whether Nontraditional Family Member Can Get Apartment

Landlord of HUD project-based Section 8 building sued to evict apartment occupant after tenant died in 2016. Occupant claimed succession rights. Landlord claimed that occupant had no valid claim because tenant's lease didn't list any additional family members and occupant admitted that he had no biological relationship with tenant. Landlord argued that succession status for "nontraditional" family members didn't apply to project-based Section 8 tenancies. Landlord also claimed that occupant hadn't lived in the apartment with tenant for any significant period of time. Landlord asked the court to rule in its favor without a trial.

The court ruled against landlord, finding that questions of fact required a trial. Tenant's failure to add occupant to the annual certification or leases didn't bar occupant from raising a succession claim. There also was no appeals court authority stating that a nontraditional family member was barred from succeeding to a project-based Section 8 tenancy as a matter of law. Whether the occupant had a bona fide family relationship with tenant was a question to be considered at trial. For project-based Section 8 units, a two-year cohabitation period also wasn't necessarily required. A remaining family member must only show "a bona fide co-occupancy of suitable duration," which may be less than two years. And it was unclear how long occupant lived in the apartment with tenant.

Boston Tremont Housing Development Fund Corporation v. Dunbar: Index No. 23500/17, 2018 NY Slip Op 28415 (Civ. Ct. NY; 12/7/18; Ibrahim, J)