Tenant's Daughter Gets Rent-Controlled Apartment

Landlord sued to evict rent-controlled tenant's daughter after tenant died. Landlord claimed that the apartment was decontrolled because it became vacant after June 30, 1971, that there was no lease in effect, and that the building was a three-family house. Tenant's daughter claimed the apartment was rent-controlled and that she had pass-on rights. She asked the court to dismiss the case without holding a trial. The court ruled for tenant's daughter. Tenant, her husband, and their daughter had moved into the apartment in 1962. When daughter grew up, she got married and moved out in 1975. In 1980, tenant's husband died. In 1981, tenant's daughter, her husband, and their two children moved in with tenant. The children's school records and tax returns for the years 1985 through 1989 listed the apartment as their address. Tenant died in 1989. Landlord bought the building in 1992 and had been trying to evict tenant's daughter for different unjustified reasons ever since.

Wlizlo v. Guich: NYLJ, p. 23, col. 2 (1/6/98) (Civ. Ct. Kings; Rodriguez, J)