SF 878 E. 176th, LLC v. Molina
| Decision Date | 21 October 2019 |
| Docket Number | 67112/2018 |
| Parties | SF 878 E. 176TH, LLC, Petitioner (Landlord), v. Elvi MOLINA, Jennifer Molina, "John Doe" and "Jane Doe", Respondents (Occupants). |
| Court | New York Civil Court |
Petitioner's Attorney: Todd Rothenberg, Esq., 271 North Avenue, Suite 115, New Rochelle, NY 10801, (914) 235-7234
Respondents' Attorneys: Mirkin & Gordon, P.C., 98 Cutter Mill Road, Great Neck, New York 11021, (516) 466-6030
This holdover proceeding was commenced by SF 878 E. 176th, LLC (Petitioner) to recover possession of Apartment 2-D at 878 East 176th Street, Bronx, New York 10460 (the subject premises) from occupants Elvi Molina and Jennifer Molina (Respondents) based on the allegation that they are licensees of the former Rent Stabilized tenant of record Maria Molina, who permanently vacated and moved to Tennessee. Alternatively, Petitioner claims Respondents are squatters. Respondents, represented by counsel, served and filed an answer admitting and denying various allegations in the petition and raising three affirmative defenses: First, that Respondents are entitled to succeed to Maria Molina's Rent Stabilized tenancy as they are her immediate family members (son and daughter-in-law) who lived with her in the subject premises as their primary residence for a period in excess of two years prior to her vacatur of the apartment. In their Second and Third Affirmative Defenses, Respondents claim tenancy rights under the legal doctrines of laches and equitable estoppel based upon Petitioner's and/or its predecessor-in-interest's knowledge of their occupancy since 2007 and acceptance of rent payments from them since 2014.
Petitioner proved certain elements of its case through documents admitted into evidence on consent of the parties. Petitioner is the owner of the premises pursuant to a deed dated August 23, 2016 (Petitioner's Exhibit 1). The building has 21 apartments and is registered as a multiple dwelling with the City of New York; the multiple dwelling registration statement lists Moshe Stahl as Managing Agent and Jissachar Dov Fessel as Head Officer (Pet's Ex 2). The apartment is registered with the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) as Rent Stabilized with Maria Molina listed as the tenant of record in every year from 1984 through 2018 (Pet's Ex 3). As reflected in a rent ledger for the subject premises, unpaid rent and/or use and occupancy billed at the monthly rate of $604.97 and late fees billed at the monthly rate of $25 totaled $12,823.95 through August 2019 (Pet's Ex 4).
Also admitted into evidence on consent were:
Two witnesses testified for Petitioner: Moshe Stahl, who described his duties as including repairs, maintenance, collection of rent, vacancies and violations; and Dov Fessel, who described his duties as including depositing rents, signing leases and helping with office work.
Mr. Stahl phrased his answers to most of the questions posed to him on direct, cross-examination and re-direct using the pronoun "we", without indicating who this referred to. He testified that at the time "we" purchased the building in August 2016 "we" thought Maria Molina lived in Apartment 2D, where she was the tenant of record. Over time, "as management, we went apartment by apartment" to meet the tenants of record and encountered difficulty trying to meet with Maria Molina. At an unidentified point, "the super told us she does not reside there." The efforts made to meet with Maria Molina included that "we asked her kids who reside there to meet her" and eventually a meeting did occur in the apartment in January 2017. At that meeting, "there was an old lady in the apartment that we were told she was Maria Molina, we tried to get her to sign a piece of paper to see if it matches the signatures on the leases but she did not want to sign." Mr. Stahl testified that the super — who had been the super for a long time - said that this woman was not Maria Molina.
Mr. Stahl testified that Respondents Elvi and Jennifer Molina currently reside in Apartment 2D and that, based on information obtained at Jennifer's deposition in August 2018, he thinks that Maria Molina currently lives in Tennessee and has lived there since 2011. Regarding the three lease renewals admitted into evidence, "We got these when we purchased the building"; Mr. Stahl believed them to have been signed by Maria and Jennifer confirmed this at her deposition. Mr. Stahl could not recall whether Maria ever reached out to him to request a lease after he purchased the building. He testified that she never turned in the keys, and when asked if she had ever sent in a "formal surrender" Mr. Stahl answered, "We did get some kind of document from her, I don't recall what it was."
On cross examination Mr. Stahl did not remember what else was talked about at the meeting with Maria Molina in January 2017, denied having offered her money to leave the apartment and stated that "there wasn't a lot of talk". Mr. Stahl thought he might have asked Maria if she had vacated the apartment, but he did not remember her response. Mr. Stahl acknowledged having received the DHCR complaint that was admitted into evidence; in response to the question "Did you respond?" he stated that "our office takes care of this, it's not part of my duties." Mr. Stahl also did not follow up after receiving the letter from Neighborhood Initiatives Development Corporation dated April 4, 2017.
When asked about conversations with Respondents between August 2016 and January 2017 Mr. Stahl said there were some, he could not recall when they took place and they were about his wanting to meet Maria Molina. When asked if Respondents ever asked for a lease in their name Mr. Stahl answered yes, once or maybe more than once on dates he could not recall, and the reason they gave was that "they were living in the apartment and wanted a lease in their name". Mr. Stahl did not think he had spoken with the prior owner regarding renewal leases or requests by Respondents for a lease in their name. Mr. Stahl testified that he collected "some rent" for apartment 2D by mail. He did not know if those payments were made by check or money order, or in whose name the rent had been sent.
On redirect, Mr. Stahl read the section in Jennifer's deposition in which she confirmed that the signatures on the three renewal leases in evidence were all Maria Molina's. Mr. Stahl also testified that the letter from Neighborhood Initiatives Development Corporation dated April 4, 2017 led him to believe that Maria "had moved out and she wanted the lease transferred."
Petitioner's second witness, Dov Fessel, testified that he does the office work and Mr. Stahl does the on-site work for the building. Mr. Fessel received the DHCR complaint and described it as a request from Maria Molina "asking for a lease as she is entitled to get a lease." When asked if Maria ever submitted any documentation stating that she had vacated the apartment and was giving up her rights Mr. Fessel answered, "There was some time that she wanted to give the lease to her son." Mr. Fessel did not remember receiving any letter saying Maria had another residence, and the first time he heard that she lives in Tennessee was at Jennifer Molina's deposition.
On cross examination when asked if Maria Molina ever requested a lease in her son's name, Mr. Fessel responded that she requested a lease in her own name, and he did not remember if he responded to that request. Regarding rent payments for Apartment 2D, Mr. Fessel testified that they had been made by check or money order, he could not remember in whose name the payments were made and, "At some time we assumed she was not there, we wrote her that we would not accept because they were not the tenant's checks".
Petitioner discontinued the proceeding as against "John Doe" and "Jane Doe" and requested a final...
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