Jarred I. Kassenoff in New York Times Real Estate Section, PARTNER'S RIGHTS TO RENT-REGULATED UNIT, October 24, 2010

By Jay Romano

Q         Several years ago I bought a rent-controlled apartment in a co-op building; a longtime tenant and her partner were living in it. The tenant has since died, but her partner still lives there. The two had not established joint bank accounts or anything of a nature to indicate they had set up a household together. Is the apartment still rent-controlled?

A          "Like other family members, a tenant's partner or 'significant other' may be entitled to succeed to a rent-regulated apartment," said Jarred I. Kassenoff, a Manhattan real estate lawyer. The successor, however, must establish that he lived with the tenant for two years before the tenant's death or departure from the apartment, and that they shared an emotional and financial commitment and interdependence. (For successor tenants 62 and older, the time period is reduced to one year.)

Mr. Kassenoff says that when a succession claim is made, courts will look at factors like the longevity of the relationship, whether there was a sharing of household expenses, whether the partners named each other in wills, and whether they engaged in any other behavior that would indicate the existence of a long-term, emotionally committed relationship.

"No single factor is exclusively determinative," Mr. Kassenoff said, adding that the fact that the partners did not have a joint bank account by itself probably would not be enough to negate the successor tenant's entitlement to remain rent-controlled.

If the owner is not convinced that the two shared a financial and emotional commitment to each other, he can start eviction proceedings against the successor and a housing court judge will decide, Mr. Kassenoff said.