Apartment Occupied by Deceased Landlord's Daughter Was Temporarily Exempt

Landlord, the building's trustee, asked the DHCR to determine whether an apartment in the building was temporarily exempt from rent stabilization due to owner occupancy. The DRA ruled that, since the apartment had been occupied by a member of landlord's immediate family for years before it was transferred to a family trust in 2001, and remained so occupied since 2001, the apartment was temporarily exempt.

The family member appealed and lost. She claimed she was a rent-stabilized tenant. The DHCR disagreed. The family member was the daughter of the former, deceased building owner. A trust, whose living trustee was the daughter's sister, operated the building. The daughter grew up in the building, moved out when she got married, then moved back in in 1995 and lived in the apartment with her children. The daughter also claimed that she paid $1,100 per month in rent. But all beneficiaries of the trust who occupy apartments in the building paid the same or similar amounts to the trust monthly for the building expenses as part of a family agreement. So the $1,100 paid each month by the daughter wasn't rent within the meaning of the Rent Stabilization Law and Code. The daughter also never received leases, and the apartment wasn't registered with the DHCR.

Milin: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. GT210010RT (7/25/19) [4-pg. doc.]