Q: "I live in a rent-stabilized apartment. Under what circumstances can my landlord evict me?"
-Michael
A: Bianca Jagger, an human rights advocate and the former wife of the Rolling Stones rocker Mick Jagger, was evicted in December ’08 from the rent-stabilized Upper East Side apartment she had for 20 years. The court ruled that she did not meet the “Primary Residence” clause. She paid $4,614 a month for her 18th-floor apartment, for which the normal rent may go up as high as 8000-9000$.
The state’s highest court ruled that she was not, legally speaking, a New Yorker, at least not in the sense required by the state’s housing laws. Those laws require that anyone who has a rent-regulated unit use that apartment as their primary residence. But documents submitted by Ms. Jagger’s landlord, Katz Park Avenue, showed that Ms. Jagger, a British citizen, was admitted to the United States on a B-2 visa, commonly known as a tourist visa. And under federal law, such visas are only given to individuals who have their principal residence in another country.
“We conclude that, at least absent some unusual circumstance, a primary residence in New York and a B-2 visa are logically incompatible,” wrote Judge Robert S. Smith of the Court of Appeals, in a majority opinion.
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It is unclear how many other rent-stabilized tenants in the city might be living in the United States on tourist visas. Mitch Posilkin, a counsel at the Rent Stabilization Association, a group representing owners of rent-stabilized buildings, said he expected that the number was fairly low.
Failing to use your apartment as your primary residence
Because rent regulated apartments are in such a short supply, state law requires rent-regulated tenants to use them as a primary residence. (9 NYCRR 2524.4(c); 9 NYCR R 2504.4(d)) The primary residence rule is intended to prevent tenants from using valueable rent-regulated units as occasional residence or as places for friends to stay.
To recover an apartment on the ground of non-primary residence, the landlord must be able to show that you have not maintained on “ongoing, substantial, physical nexus with the premises for actual living purposes as demonstrated by objective, empirical evidence.” – (East End Template v/. Silverman, 199 A.D.2d 94, 605 N.Y.S.2d 56 (1st Dep’t 1993).)
Although no single factor is solely determinative, the Division of Housing and Community Removal (DHCR) has said it may consider the following evidence in determining whether an apartment is occupied as a primary residence:
- Specifying an address other than the apartment as a place of residence on any tax return, motor vehicle registration, driver’s license or other document filed with a public agency.
- Using an address other than the apartment address as the voting address.
- Occupying the apartment for an aggregate of less than 183 days of the most recent calendar year, except for temporary periods of relocation for military service, enrollment as a full time student, employment requiring temporary relocation or hospitalization for medical treatment.
- Subletting the apartment (9 NYCRR 250.6(u))
** Cited from the book - New York Tenants' Rights by Attorney Mary Ann Hallenborg
NYC Rent-Stabilized Tenants
If you are rent stabilized and your landlord has grounds to believe that you do not use your apartment as your primary residence, the landlord may refuse to renew your lease and evict you at the end of the current lease term. To terminate the tenancy, New York City landlords are required to first serve a notice of non-renewal during the 90 to 150-day window period prior to the expiration of your current lease. In addition, you must receive a 30-day termination notice. Your landlord may combine both notices in the notice of non-renewal.
** Cited from the book - New York Tenants' Rights by Attorney Mary Ann Hallenborg
NYC Rent-Controlled Tenants
If you are a New York City rent-controlled tenant, you must be served with a 30-day notice of termination. NO DHCR certificate of Eviction or other notice from the landlord is required. (Berman v. Keeton, 727 N.Y.S.2d 156(2d Dep’t 2001).) The termination notice must state the ground for removal-that you do not use the premises as your primary residence-and also recite the facts that will prove this. In addition, your landlord must file an exact copy of the notice of termination, along with an affidavit of service, with the local DHCR office within 18 hours of service of the notice on you.
** Cited from the book - New York Tenants' Rights by Attorney Mary Ann Hallenborg
Recovery for Owner’s use (“Owner Occupancy”)
In many cases, an owner-landlord may recover possessions of a rent-regulated unit for his or her own use or for the use of an immediate family member. (Please check 9 NYCRR (RCS) 2520.6(n) for further details). But unless the tenant is offered equivalent or superior housing at the same or lower regulated rent in a “close proximity area”, the landlord may not recover the unit for Owner’s use where the tenant or tenant’s spouse is a senior citizen, (age 62 or older), disabled, a tenant of the apartment for 20 years or more (depending on the system of rent regulations). This 20-year rule applies to rent controlled tenants and not rent stabilized New York City tenants (Brusco v. Armstrong NYLJ Feb. 6, 2002 p. 19 col. 1 (App. Term., 1st Dep’t).)
** Cited from the book - New York Tenants' Rights by Attorney Mary Ann Hallenborg
New York University affiliates may also register for our Listings => DIRECT! service by sending an e-mail request. Participants of this service
receive recently approved listings from within the Off-Campus Housing Registry - via e-mail. The service is available exclusively to the NYU community, and distribution is available to NYU e-mail addresses ONLY. If you unable to access your NYU e-mail account, make sure to contact ITS to activate it. Information about eligibility for NYU Home accounts is available at www.nyu.edu/its/students. You may also contact the Off-Campus Housing Office at (212)
998-4620 or offcampus.housing@nyu.edu for additional information.
The term for this service is two months. If, after the two month term, you have not found an apartment or wish to continue receiving listings, you may renew your registration by contacting the Off Campus Housing Office.
Contact The Off-Campus Housing Office at (212) 998-4620 for more information.
New York University has a cooperative relationship with Citi Habitats Relocation which offers a discounted broker commission to the NYU community. To access the Citi Habitats Relocation program, you
must register through the Off-Campus Housing Office. Discounts
cannot be guaranteed if you contact Citi Habitats directly.
The Citi-Habitats program is one option available to NYU students. NYU students are free to use any real estate brokerage they choose.
Register for the Citi-Habitats Relocation Program
The Off Campus Housing Office provides assistance to current and newly admitted NYU students, faculty, and staff (including those with families or non-student roommates) who are not eligible for or not interested in NYU student housing, and are seeking private off campus apartments for rental or purchase. Off-Campus Housing is dedicated to the successful transition of New York University affiliates and to being an abundant resource of information, guidance, and services.
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