Landlord Can't Get Rent in Unregistered Building

May 31, 2006

LVT Number: 18910

Landlord sued to evict tenant from a two-family house. The court ruled for landlord and awarded him $2,400 in back rent. Tenant appealed. The appeals court ruled for tenant in part. Landlord was entitled to evict the nonregulated tenant. But landlord wasn't entitled to the rent award. Landlord didn't prove that the building wasn't a de facto multiple dwelling with three apartments. Landlord claimed that an illegal basement tenant had moved out before he sued to evict tenant, so there were only two apartments.

Landlord sued to evict tenant from a two-family house. The court ruled for landlord and awarded him $2,400 in back rent. Tenant appealed. The appeals court ruled for tenant in part. Landlord was entitled to evict the nonregulated tenant. But landlord wasn't entitled to the rent award. Landlord didn't prove that the building wasn't a de facto multiple dwelling with three apartments. Landlord claimed that an illegal basement tenant had moved out before he sued to evict tenant, so there were only two apartments. But tenant claimed that the illegal basement tenant was still in occupancy after landlord started the eviction case against tenant. Since the building didn't have a certificate of occupancy as a multiple dwelling containing three apartments, landlord couldn't collect unpaid rent.

Huang v. Wang: NYLJ, 5/22/06, p. 49, col. 5 (App. T. 2 Dept.; Pesce, PJ, Weston Patterson, Rios, JJ)

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