Q & A: Rent-Stabilized Corporate Tenants
By Jay Romano
Q: Is it legal for a corporation to be a rent-stabilized tenant?
A: Yes, “a corporation can rent a rent-stabilized apartment,” said Adam Leitman Bailey, a Manhattan real estate lawyer. “But the terms of the rental will determine whether or not the apartment is entitled to the automatic renewals that are normal under rent stabilization.”
If the lease names specific individuals who are required to occupy the apartment as their primary legal residence, Mr. Bailey said, then the apartment is treated the same as any other rent-stabilized apartment. But if the apartment is rented by a corporation without a designation of a particular occupant, then although it is considered legally rented, it is not subject to the mandatory renewal leases required by rent stabilization.