Landlord Waited Too Long to Claim Apartment Not Rent-Controlled

Facts: Landlord's five-unit premises was made up of a front and back building. The back building had two apartments. Tenant moved into back apartment in 1964 and was always treated as rent-controlled. Tenant's daughter always lived with him. In 1989, a few years after tenant went into a nursing home, landlord sued to evict daughter. In 1990, landlord amended its petition to claim that the apartment wasn't rent-controlled because the apartment was in a two-family house that became vacant after April 1, 1953. Daughter claimed that the two buildings were a horizontal multiple dwelling. The court ruled against landlord and he appealed. Court: Landlord loses. Landlord waited too long to claim the apartment wasn't rent-controlled. Landlord had also admitted that until at least 1971---some seven years after tenant moved in---both buildings had common heat and hot water lines.

Perlman v. Castro: NYLJ, p. 21, col. 1 (5/10/94) (App. T. 1 Dept.; Ostrau, PJ, Miller, McCooe, JJ)