How Can I Add My Partner to a Rent-Stabilized Lease?
How Can I Add My Partner to a Rent-Stabilized Lease?
Abstract
I want to know: If something happens to me as the tenant of record, will he be able to stay in the apartment? We are considering registering as domestic partners. In rent-stabilized apartments, a tenant can demand that a partner be added to a lease "If the partner became a spouse to the tenant and lived in the apartment as their primary residence with the tenant," said Peter A. Schwartz, a real estate lawyer who specializes in rent stabilization and rent control, and is a partner in the Manhattan law firm Graubard Miller. For any other family member, the tenant can ask, but approval is up to the landlord. A domestic partner who is not on the lease may have the right to succession upon the tenant's death or permanent vacating of the apartment, but there are a number of boxes to check. First, the partner must have lived in the apartment with the tenant as their permanent residence for a minimum period of time, typically two years, Mr. Schwartz said. Generally, a tenant's family members have more direct routes to lease succession under New York law. There's another category: "Any other person residing with the tenant who can prove emotional and financial commitment and interdependence with the tenant," he said.