A 79-year-old widow in a rent-stabilized two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood may have to sell her lease to her landlord to pay off her creditors if a federal appeals court denies her appeal of separate rulings by a bankruptcy court and a federal district court.
Millions of other New Yorkers in rent-stabilized apartments, which make up 44 percent of the city’s rentals, could be affected by the federal appeals court decision, the first time one is being asked to consider if a rent-stabilized lease is an asset that is liable for seizure in a bankruptcy case, according to the New York Times.
Currently, the widow, who has lived in the apartment for 50 years, pays $703 per month in rent, thousands less than non-rent-stabilized apartments in the neighborhood.
Source: New York Times
