Building Never Had Six or More Units Occupied or Intended for Occupancy

Landlord sued to evict unregulated tenant. In response, tenant claimed that she was subject to rent stabilization because the building contained six or more housing accommodations. The court ruled for landlord without trial.

Tenant appealed and lost. It was undisputed that the building had contained four dwelling units since it was converted in 1981. Tenant claimed that eight fourth- and fifth-floor apartments existed before the renovation and must be counted toward the six-unit threshold regardless of whether they were ever occupied. The appeals court disagreed. The building's 1937 C of O showed that two units, on the second and third floors, were used at that time as housing accommodations. That C of O also stated that the apartments on floors four and five were to "remain vacant." The appeals court rejected tenant's claim that the fourth- and fifth-floor units must be added to the four units to bring the number of apartments to more than six. Since tenant presented no proof that the fourth- or fifth-floor apartments were ever occupied or intended to be occupied as housing accommodations on any of the dates they could have become subject to rent stabilization, those apartments couldn't be counted toward the six-unit threshold needed for rent stabilization to apply.

325 Mgt. Corp. v. Statuto: Index No. 157359/21, App. No. 819, Case No. 2022-04712, 2023 NY Slip Op 05307 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 10/19/23; Manzanet-Daniels, JP, Kern, Scarpulla, Mendez, O'Neill Levy, JJ)