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Going away over 6 months to care for 95 year old parent

NYC Rent Regulation: Rent Control/Rent Stabilized, DHCR Practice/Procedures

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Going away over 6 months to care for 95 year old parent

Postby structure01 » Sat Aug 03, 2019 10:53 pm

I am writing for my neighbor whose written English is not good. She also is r/s.

She is low income, living on SS and supplements her SS with agency work as she is able. She is low income.

Her 95 year old mother lives in Poland.

This past spring-summer she went to Poland for three months to supervise major accessibility renovations and to see to her mother's health care regimes. She is now taking a more active part in her mother's care given her mother's condition. She wishes to help her mother continue to live on her own.

It is clear that she will have to spend increasing amounts of time in Poland as her mother's aging progresses. She is not establishing residency in Poland. This is strictly to act as caregiver.

I believe this is a common situation for New Yorkers in our age range.

We pay very low rents and my neighbor has a very desirable two bedroom apt. Our landlord does not want the r/s tenants in the building and has tried to illegally evict us once ( I stopped that within a day).

If she goes to Poland, as she surely will have to at some point in the near future, is there documentation that she should be sure to have at the ready e.g a letter from her mother's doctor in Poland that she is needed as a care provider and an estimate of the length of time. What else should she normally have to show that she is only caring for a very aged parent and is not establishing a residency in Poland? She will, of course, be filing her taxes as a full year resident of NYC/New York State,which I do not think has bearing


She just returned from Poland and feels as if it is safest to have documents here as her mother's condition, while good, could take a turn at any time at her age.

We do not think it is right to advise our landlord of anything. They will twist whatever one tells them. Better to go about one's personal and private business,but be prepared.

Is there law on this subject?


Thanks for responses.
structure01
 
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Re: Going away over 6 months to care for 95 year old parent

Postby TenantNet » Sun Aug 04, 2019 4:31 am

This might result in the LL filing a non-primary case.

Here's one case on this subject:
https://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/a ... 653-u.html

Here's a partial quote:
Notably, courts have determined that a temporary relocation to provide care to others could constitute a reasonable ground for residing outside of a rent-stabilized housing accommodation, thereby precluding a finding that the housing accommodation has been abandoned by the tenant as his or her primary residence (see Second 82nd Corp. v Veiders, 146 AD3d 696, 696-697 [2017]; 542 E. 14th St. LLC v Lee, 66 AD3d 18, 21-24 [2009]; King Enters., Ltd. v Glazer, 27 Misc 3d 127[A], 2010 NY Slip Op 50560[U] [App Term, 1st Dept 2010]; Hudsoncliff Bldg. Co. v Houpouridou, 22 Misc 3d 52, 53 [App Term, 1st Dept 2008]).


The question of non-primary residence can be complicated. Search this forum and site for "non-primary"

Also you can just Google "NYS non-primary" and see what pops up. You can also go to https://www.landlordvtenant.com
and search for "non-primary" or "mother" and you will find a number of cases.

Note: we have a good many of the DHCR PAR decisions cited from that website (don't pay them the huge amounts they are asking), so ask us first - or FOIL it yourself from DHCR. Also, many of the court decisions cited can be found (just like the one above) on the net.

But in general, it's best to plan ahead and have all the correct documentation for oneself and also documentation from the mother's doctor (in English preferably), the hospital, the care center and so on. You want to show the situation in Poland is temporary and that all indicators are that you have not abandoned the primary residence in NYC.

You might also consult with an experienced tenant attorney. Ask the lawyer if it might be best to document all this ahead of the fact with the landlord so there's no suggestion of subterfuge. The LL would also be on notice that if they try anything while you are away, you have a lawyer ready to go (and that all papers must be sent to your lawyer).
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Re: Going away over 6 months to care for 95 year old parent

Postby structure01 » Mon Aug 05, 2019 12:15 am

Thank you. I will make sure my neighbor is prepared as going over to help for increasing lengths of time is becoming a necessity.

Certainly, this must be becoming commonplace as more people are living well into their 90's and beyond.
structure01
 
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Joined: Sun Feb 18, 2018 10:03 pm


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