The regulations which govern rent-controlled and rent-stabilized units permit a surviving or remaining occupant--who was not named as tenant on the lease--to remain in the unit and to "inherit" or "succeed" to the tenant's interest in the residential space.
Comparable protections are in place for occupants of Mitchell-Lama units. According to the governing regulations, in order for an occupant of a state or city supervised Mitchell-Lama apartment to successfully assert a succession entitlement, that individual must satisfy the following three elements:
1) "family" status--as defined by the regulations;
2) contemporaneous residency with the tenant-of-record in the apartment as a primary residence for a period of not less than two years preceding the tenant's tenant or departure;* and
3) listing on the income affidavit and/or on the "Notice of Change to Tenant's Family," as required by the regulations.
In Matter of Mayfield v. Esplanade Gardens, Inc., the claimant, Hortense Anna Mayfield, brought an administrative proceeding--known as an "Article 78 Proceeding"--to annul an unfavorable determination issued against her by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). [All city-supervised Mitchell-Lama buildings are subject to HPD's oversight.]
The New York County Supreme Court refused to modify the agency's decision. On appeal, the Appellate Division, First Department, agreed with the Supreme Court. Ms. Mayfield's contention that she was denied a "full blown evidentiary or 'in person' hearing" by HPD was found to of little consequence, particularly since Ms. Mayfield conceded that she had moved into the apartment some two months after her mother had passed away.
Even though she was the former tenant's surviving daughter, since she could not satisfy the two-year co-residency requirement, Ms. Mayfield ultimately could not succeed.
For a copy of the Appellate Division's decision in Matter of Mayfield v. Esplanade Gardens, Inc., please click on the following link:
http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2006/2006_05098.htm
For a copy of the succession regulations governing state-supervised Mitchell-Lama housing units, please click on the following links:
http://www.metcouncil.net/factsheets/9NYCRR1727.html#1727-8.3
For the definition of "family member," pertaining to state-supervised Mitchell-Lama housing units, please click on the following link:
http://www.metcouncil.net/factsheets/9NYCRR1727.html#1727-8.2
For additional information about the state-supervised Mitchell-Lama Housing Program, please click on the following link:
http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/ohm/progs/mitchlam/ohmmla0.htm
For the regulations pertaining to city-supervised Mitchell-Lama housing units, please click on the following link:
http://www.metcouncil.net/factsheets/28_RCNY.pdf
For additional information about the city-supervised Mitchell-Lama Housing Program, please click on the following link:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/apartment/mitchell-lama.shtml
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*Note:Senior citizens and the disabled claiming a succession entitlement need to satisfy a reduced, one-year contemporaneous occupancy with the tenant-of-record of record.