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Seeking to Inherit Rent-Controlled Status
By Jay Romano
Q. My friend's mother passed away, and now the landlord is trying to evict him from her apartment, which is rent controlled. She and he had started the paperwork to add him to the lease, but she died before it was completed. While she was sick, he took care of the rent. Is there anything he can do?
A. "Whether or not an occupant may 'inherit,' or succeed to, a regulated apartment is governed by
That law protects an array of family members -- like spouses, children, stepchildren, brothers, sisters, grandparents, grandchildren, fathers- or mothers-in-law and sons- or daughters-in-law -- or others who have lived with the tenant and can prove there was an "emotional and financial commitment and interdependence" with the tenant.
There are two requirements. The first is that the family member must have lived with the tenant for the two years immediately preceding the tenant's death or departure. (That time frame is cut to a year if the person claiming the right to remain is at least 62.) In addition, both the occupant and the deceased tenant must have used the regulated apartment as their principal residence during that one- or two-year time frame.
If those elements are satisfied, Mr. Newman said, the letter writer's friend will be permitted to remain as a regulated tenant.
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