Landlord Awarded Possession of Rent Regulated Apartment

Nikolaos Preponis, Esq. Of Counsel to KMWB, received a favorable decision on appeal in which the Appellate Term, First Department affirmed the lower court’s grant of a motion for summary judgment to the landlord. The case was a non-primary resident proceeding whereby the corporate tenant was claiming it was entitled to a lease renewal. Mr. Preponis argued that the named and intended occupant in the original lease (an employee of the corporate tenant) had vacated the apartment and that the subsequent occupant was not protected by the Rent Stabilization Law since she was not mentioned in the original lease and thus not entitled to a lease renewal. On July 5, 2018, the Court affirmed the lower court denying the corporate tenant the benefits of the RSL avoiding the problem of bestowing a perpetual tenancy on the corporate tenant. The Court further held that the landlord’s Notice of Non-Renewal was sufficient and confirmed the lower court’s award of possession to the landlord.