Rent-Controlled Lease Not Distributable in Divorce

After his wife divorced him in 2007, rent-controlled tenant sued to evict his wife from their apartment. Tenant had moved into the apartment in 1960. His got married and his wife moved in with him in 1969. The housing court dismissed the case, finding that there was no landlord-tenant relationship. Tenant then asked the court in their pending divorce proceeding for an order finding that the rent-controlled lease was his separate property. The court ruled against tenant, finding that the lease wasn't marital or separate property for purposes of equitable distribution under the Domestic Relations Law. The court also found it had no authority to award possession of the lease to either party in a divorce. Tenant appealed and lost. Tenant's leasehold interest in a rental apartment that wasn't expected to be converted into a co-op wasn't marital or separate property. But the court did have authority to decide who would possess the lease, and sent the case back to the trial court for a ruling on that question.

Cudar v. Cudar: 2012 NY Slip Op 04965, 2012 WL 2330657 (App. Div. 2 Dept.; 6/20/12; Rivera, JP, Leventhal, Belen, Roman, JJ)