Borah, Goldstein, Altschuler, Nahins & Goidel, P.C obtained a favorable ruling for a client seeking to recover possession of rent-stabilized apartment. The court found that the tenant had no reasonable excuse for his default in the ejectment action.
The documentary evidence established that while the tenant was in federal immigration detention, he rented the apartment to transient occupants in violation of the law. In addition, the court found that the tenant was not residing at the subject apartment and maintained his primary residence elsewhere in violation of the rent stabilization law.
In addition to attempting to avoid the requirements of his rent-stabilized tenancy, the tenant fraudulently attempted to claim the protection of the COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020 (CEEFPA). The judge denied the tenant’s request on the grounds that he was not eligible for CEEFPA protection because of his “nuisance conduct.”
The owner was represented by senior partner David Rosenbaum, with assistance from partner Josh Nadelbach.
(The decision is Collpoint Enterprises Inc. v. Houmita, Index No 705061/2020, Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Queens, July 20, 2021.)
