Currently, an owner may recover a rent-stabilized unit for "owner's use" when the apartment is needed to house the owner and/or the owner's family and will be used by the intended occupant(s) as a primary residence.
This is a highly technical procedure with a number of catches. For example, once a regulated tenant establishes that he or she is a senior citizen (i.e., 62 years of age or older), the apartment that senior occupies may not be subject to owner's use recovery "unless the landlord offers to provide, and if requested, provides the tenant an equivalent or superior alternative accommodation."
In Croman v. Leighton, although the landlord had been provided with a certified copy of the tenant's birth certificate which established the latter's status as a senior citizen, the landlord failed to offer the tenant comparable alternative housing. When the tenant later moved for summary judgment--a request that the case be decided on the merits, by way of documentary submissions only--the landlord contended that it did not need to offer alternative housing until such time as the tenant established his age at a formal hearing or trial. The New York County Housing Court disagreed and dismissed the landlord's case. On appeal, the Appellate Term, First Department, affirmed the dismissal noting as follows:
Even assuming, without deciding, that the offer of alternative accommodations is not a prerequisite for commencing an owner occupancy proceeding, it becomes a condition to maintaining such a proceeding once the tenant establishes that he or she is a senior citizen....
For a copy of the Appellate Term's decision in Croman v. Leighton, please click on the following link:
http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2006/2006_26242.htm
For a copy of DHCR's Fact Sheet # 10, Eviction from an Apartment Based on Owner Occupancy, please click on the following link:
http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/ora/pubs/html/orafac10.htm