Landlord-Tenant—Rent Stabilization—Lease Terminated—Tenant Profiteered by Subletting Apartment to 93 Customers Through Airbnb or 338 Days Over 18-Month Period—Dissent Asserts That Questions of Fact Should Preclude Summary Judgment
The Appellate Division, First Department (court) explained that “a rent-stabilized tenant who sublets her apartment at market rates to realize substantial profits not lawfully available to the landlord, and does so systematically, for a substantial length of time, places herself in jeopardy of having her lease terminated on that ground, with no right to cure….” The court found that this was “precisely what defendant did with the rent stabilized cooperative apartment….” Accordingly, the court held that the plaintiff was entitled to summary judgment on its cause of action for a declaration that it had validly terminated the lease and on its cause of action for ejectment, and as to liability on its claim “for recovery of the fair value of the use and occupancy of the apartment since defendant was served with notice of the termination of the lease.”
