Alfred v. Barrios-Paoli
Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York; June 29, 1998; New York; State Appellate Court
A petitioner sought to review a determination by the Commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which denied her application for succession rights to a Mitchell-Lama apartment following her mother's death. The Supreme Court, Kings County, affirmed the denial of the petition and dismissed the proceeding. According to regulations, to succeed to the leasehold rights, one must be a defined "family member" and have resided with the tenant for two years before the tenant's permanent vacatur. The petitioner, being the tenant's daughter, could not demonstrate that she had lived with her mother in the apartment for the required two years prior to her mother's death in February 1990. The court found that the agency's determination had a rational basis and rejected the petitioner's additional claims as meritless. The order was affirmed with costs awarded.