Former Landlord Became Rent-Stabilized Tenant

Yonkers tenant complained that landlord refused to renew her lease. Landlord claimed that tenant was prior building owner and therefore wasn't subject to rent stabilization or entitled to a renewal lease. The DRA ruled against landlord. Landlord appealed and lost. Tenant claimed that she never owned the building; only her ex-husband did. Landlord bought the building on Oct. 31, 2005, before signing a lease with tenant on Dec. 1, 2005. The lease stated that tenant was a former co-owner of the building and that she agreed to a nonrenewable two-year lease term. Whether she ever owned the building, tenant clearly wasn't an owner at the time the lease was signed. Since the apartment was rent stabilized under the ETPA, it didn't matter what the lease said about nonrenewal. Tenant was entitled to a rent-stabilized renewal lease.

5 Hawthorne Avenue: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. WB910017RO (4/15/09) [3-pg. doc.]