The tenant I was living with left the apartment and left me there, am I now a tenant? Do I have any rights at all?

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COVID-19 has forced many prime tenants to relocate, leaving licensees at their former apartments. What’s next?

Your legal status as a tenant or a licensee definitely makes a difference as to what protections you have under the law.

Typically, a tenant signs a written agreement (or lease), or has an oral agreement with the Landlord which creates the landlord-tenant relationship.

Under the rent-stabilization code, a tenant is defined as any person or persons named on a lease as lessee or lessees, or who is or are a party or parties to a rental agreement and obligated to pay rent for the use or occupancy of a housing accommodation.

The fact that you pay rent is crucial to your status. Why? Because unlike a tenant, a licensee does not pay rent, but also does not receive the full protections that are offered to tenants.

A licensee is not defined by statute in New York, but it has developed over time to mean a person who is given temporary permission to occupy a premises for an undetermined time period.

Who has the right to give this permission?

It could be the tenant of the apartment, or it could be the owner. Basically, it is the person who is entitled to possession of the apartment at the time of the license.

Why does this matter?

It matters because your status determines what legal procedure is necessary for an eviction to take place. A court action (usually a holdover) proceeding against a licensee must allege that you are a licensee of the person entitled to possession of the property, and that the license has expired, the licensor revoked your license, or the licensor is no longer entitled to possession of the property.

A classic case of a licensee court eviction action occurs when an apartment’s tenant of record dies, and the roommate/licensee continues to reside in the apartment. This roommate is someone who is not on the lease.

Many times, the remaining roommate is a family member. In a rent-stabilized apartment, the family member can establish that they are entitled to rights as a tenant by claiming succession.

What is succession?

For a family member to obtain rights as a tenant under succession, s/he must show that s/he has lived in the apartment for two or more years prior to the tenant’s departure, or if the family member claiming succession is disabled or at least 62 years old, then s/he only needs to show occupancy for one year prior to the tenant’s departure or death.

But who qualifies as a “family member?”

a. Your spouse
b. Children
c. Stepchildren
d. Parents
e. Stepparents
f. Siblings
g. Grandparents
h. Grandchildren
i. Parents-in-law
j. Non-traditional family member: a person who can prove emotional and financial commitment and interdependence between that person and the tenant.

How does a Non-traditional family member prove emotional and financial commitment?

The Court will look at:
a. The length of the relationship
b. The sharing of household expenses
c. Intermingling of finances such as credit cards or bank accounts
d. Whether or not the non-traditional family member and tenant engaged in family type activities together
e. Did they have any formal legal obligations? Such as wills, powers of attorney, domestic partnership declarations
f. Did they hold themselves out as family members in public?
g. Did they regularly perform family functions for each other.

As you can see this is a very fact-specific inquiry.

Do you believe that you have a succession claim? Have you been served with a Notice to Quit? Don’t move yet! You may have rights to remain at the premises!

#attorneyad #priorresultsnotguaranteed 212-264-5612 www.outerbridgelaw.com