RSC §2523.5(b)(1) generally allows a family member or a non-traditional family member to succeed to a rent stabilized apartment where the occupant “has resided with the tenant in the housing accommodation as a primary residence for a period of no less than two years.” In the recent case of CBU Assocs., Inc. v. Forray, 65 Misc 3d 132(A) (App Term, 1st Dept. 2019), the First Department, Appellate Term observed that an occupant, through a “persistent and systematic pattern of deception,” can waive succession rights. The rule in the Second Department, Appellate Term, however, is somewhat more tenant-friendly.

‘South Pierre Associates’

In South Pierre Assoc. v. Mankowitz, 17 Misc 3d 53 (App Term, 1st Dept. 2007), the rent stabilized tenant died in 1989. For the next three years, respondent Stanley Mankowitz forged “the tenant’s name on no fewer than seven renewal leases and numerous rental payments.” When the landlord, in 2002, demanded that the tenant notarize a document, Mankowitz informed the landlord of the tenant’s death and demanded a lease in his own name.