Co-op Can't Evict Daughter After Shareholder Dies

Landlord sued to evict the daughter and estate executor from co-op shareholder's apartment after the shareholder died. The court ruled against landlord, who appealed and lost. Landlord claimed that the daughter's occupancy violated the use, assignment, and subletting provisions of the shareholder's proprietary lease. But there had been no assignment of the proprietary lease, and the daughter wasn't subletting. She had lived in the apartment with the shareholder before shareholder died and was permitted by the proprietary lease to do so as an immediate family member. And the proprietary lease didn't have a mechanism for landlord cooperative corporation to get possession of an apartment from an authorized occupant and heir to the apartment shares when the co-op didn't approve the transfer of shares to the heir upon the shareholder's death. 

Skyline Terrace Cooperative, Inc. v. Ortiz-Robles: 45 Misc.3d 129(A), 2014 NY Slip Op 51527(U) (App. T. 2 Dept.; 10/3/14; Pesce, PJ, Aliota, Elliot, JJ)