Resident's Daughter Can't Get Unit

Facts: The daughter of a New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) resident, and the daughter's common-law husband, claimed succession rights to the unit after the resident died. NYCHA ruled that they weren't entitled to stay as remaining family members. The daughter appealed, claiming that NYCHA's decision was unreasonable. The court ruled against the daughter, and she appealed.

Ruling: The appeals court ruled against the daughter.

Reasoning: The daughter and her husband didn't have written permission from NYCHA to live in the unit, and they weren't listed in the income affidavit submitted by the resident in the year before she died. There also was no proof that NYCHA, by its conduct, consented to any tenancy by the daughter. And any supposed consent occurred less than a year before the resident died, and therefore didn't establish sufficient time for pass-on rights under NYCHA's succession policy.

• Weisman v. NYCHA, January 2012