RC and JS were long-term rent-stabilized tenants of a room at a building on 11th Avenue in Manhattan. They temporarily relocated to apartments on West 53rd Street under an agreement with the building's net lessee, who planned a gut renovation of the 11th Avenue building into affordable housing. However, the anticipated renovation never materialized, and the net lessee eventually surrendered the building back to the owner, N&D, LLC.
The managing agent later returned the apartment’s keys and informed the tenants in writing of their right to return, effectively restoring them to full possession of their original unit. The tenants regularly visited the building, entered the residence, took some belongings there, put their names on the mailbox, and collected their mail. But due to the poor condition of the premises, the tenants initiated an HP proceeding against the owner. When the tenants notified the landlord of their plan to move back, the latter barred them from the building, leading to an illegal lockout proceeding.
After the New York County Civil Court ruled in the tenants’ favor and restored them to possession, N & D, LLC appealed, arguing that the tenants had abandoned their leasehold interest by signing leases for the relocation apartments.
But the Appellate Term, First Department, didn’t agree, finding that the tenants were in "constructive possession" of the unit at the time they were excluded and hadn’t abandoned or surrendered their original leasehold interest. The court was of the view that the tenants' signing of renewal leases for the relocation apartments, as required by the temporary relocation agreements, didn’t extinguish their tenancy rights to their original unit.
They sure locked that in.
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DECISION