Opinion
No. 2014–2730 K C.
02-05-2016
Adrienne FRIEDMAN, Respondent, v. Elana Ben YOSEF, Appellant.
Appeal from a final judgment of the Civil Court of New York, Kings County (Laurie Lynne Lau, J.), entered October 9, 2014. The final judgment, insofar as appealed from, after a nonjury trial, awarded landlord possession as against occupant Elana Ben Yosef in a holdover summary proceeding.
ORDERED that the final judgment, insofar as appealed from, is affirmed, without costs.
Landlord commenced this owner's use holdover summary proceeding against the tenant of record, Shalom Ben Yosef, and his spouse, Elana Ben Yosef (occupant), to recover possession of their rent-stabilized apartment for landlord's daughter's use. Following a nonjury trial, the Civil Court awarded possession to landlord. The tenant of record has since died and, by decision and order on motion dated May 5, 2015 (2015 N.Y. Slip Op 72645[U] ), this court amended the caption accordingly. Occupant now appeals from so much of the final judgment as awarded possession against her.
Pursuant to Rent Stabilization Code (RSC) (9 NYCRR) § 2524.4(a)(1), an owner shall not be required to offer a renewal lease to a tenant, if the unit is to be occupied by the owner or a member of the owner's immediate family (see also Rent Stabilization Law of 1969 [Administrative Code of City of NY] § 26–511[c] [9][b] ). A landlord is required to establish a good faith intention for a family member or the owner to occupy the unit in order to regain possession on this ground (see Pultz v. Economakis, 10 NY3d 542, 548 [2008] ; see also Chan v. Adossa, 195 Misc.2d 590, 595 [App Term, 2d Dept, 2d & 11th Jud Dists 2003] ). Upon a review of the record, we find that there is ample support for the Civil Court's determination that landlord established a good faith intention to have her married daughter and son-in-law reside in the subject apartment.
Occupant's contention on appeal—that, because she was not a signatory to the most recent renewal lease, she could not be served with a nonrenewal notice until landlord first offered her a renewal lease—is without merit. Pursuant to RSC § 2524.4(a)(4), a landlord is required to serve a “tenant” with an owner-use nonrenewal notice. RSC § 2520.6(d) defines a “[t]enant” as a “person ... named on a lease ... or who is ... a party ... to a rental agreement and obligated to pay rent for the use and occupancy of a housing accommodation.” Since occupant did not sign the most recent renewal lease, she was not a tenant and not entitled to receive a nonrenewal notice (cf. 170 W. 85th St. Tenants Assn. v. Cruz, 173 A.D.2d 338, 339 [1st Dept 1991] ). Any due
process entitlement that occupant may have had to notice of, or to be joined in, the proceeding (see id. ) was satisfied.
Accordingly, the final judgment, insofar as appealed from, is affirmed.
PESCE, P.J., WESTON and ALIOTTA, JJ., concur.