Within the first few weeks of his tenancy, Henry I. listed his rent-stabilized apartment on a short-term apartment rental website – Airbnb – at a rate of $649 per night.
When Henry’s landlord later started a holdover proceeding to evict him, the New York County Civil Court thought that the guy had violated the law by renting his regulated unit out as if it were a hotel room.
On appeal, Henry challenged the evidentiary basis of the court’s decision, and argued that the landlord was required to serve a notice to cure, before filing suit. But the Appellate Term, First Department, was extremely unsympathetic to Henry’s position, given the “essentially undisputed” evidence of misconduct, such as his “profiteering.” [That is, Henry apparently charged his subtenants sums “in excess of the legal rent and commercialized the premises.”]
The AT1 clearly wanted this guy to check out.
To view a copy of the Appellate Term’s decision, please use this link: 42nd & 10th Assoc., LLC v. I.