Tenant's Nephew Didn't Prove He Lived in Apartment

(Decision submitted by Jeffrey Goldman of the Manhattan law firm of Belkin Burden Wenig & Goldman, LLP, attorneys for the landlord.) Landlord sued to evict apartment occupant as a licensee after rent-stabilized tenant died. Occupant, who was tenant's nephew, claimed he had lived in the apartment with his parents from birth to age six, when they moved to Puerto Rico. He claimed that in 1989 he returned to the apartment, then occupied by his uncle as tenant. Between 1989 and 1993, occupant lived in another apartment in Brooklyn but stayed with tenant. Occupant moved into tenant's apartment in 1993 and sent landlord three rent checks in his own name in mid-1995, after tenant died. The court ruled for landlord. Occupant didn't live in the apartment for the required two years prior to tenant's death. And landlord didn't waive the right to evict occupant by accepting a few checks mailed in envelopes bearing tenant's name.

West 49th St. Realty v. Liossatos: L&T Index No. 63282/96 (8/28/96) (Civ. Ct. NY; Rashford, J) [4-page document]