The Inheritance and Housing Law

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 12:37pm

This isn't a huge deal but would like to know if anyone can resolve a plot issue I have with The Inheritance.  This isn't meant as dramatic criticism.

Eric faces eviction, he tells Walter, because his grandmother hasn't lived in their rent controlled apartment for six months.  When Walter asks where she is, Eric tells him she's in the urn on the mantel.

But Eric would have legally succeeded to his grandmother's rent controlled tenancy as long as he had lived in the apartment with her for at least two years before her death.  Eric grew up in the apartment and appears to have always lived there except when he was at Yale (succession rights are not affected by a family member's having lived outside the home while in school elsewhere).

Curious if anyone else identified this plot problem and if anyone has been able to resolve it.
Lopez may have simply taken license here; so that it is what it is. But still curious.

btw in Howards End the Schlegels lose their Wickham Place home because it's being demolished to make way for housing blocks.

ADDENDUM: 11/12  - FIGURED IT OUT; SEE BELOW

Updated On: 12/12/19 at 12:37 PM

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 12:40pm

I don't remember the specifics, but doesn't your name have to be on the lease for a certain period of time to inherit a rent-controlled apartment from a relative?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 12:42pm

Oh that’s very interesting. I was always under the impression that if the original leaseholder died, the rent controlled apartment could not be passed on to anyone. There have been very high profile stories for years about people having to move when someone dies, so this plot point didn’t strike me as odd. But now I’m very interested to know what the real law is.

Updated On: 12/10/19 at 12:42 PM

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 12:43pm

givesmevoice said: "I don't remember the specifics, but doesn't your name have to be on the lease for a certain period of time to inherit a rent-controlled apartment from a relative?"

No. 

 

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 12:45pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Oh that’s very interesting. I was always under the impression that if the original leaseholder died, the rent controlled apartment could not be passed on to anyone. There have been very high profile stories for years about people having to move when someone dies, so this plot point didn’t strike me as odd. But now I’m very interested to know what the real law is."

The NYC Rent Guidelines Board website has some information about Succession Rights: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/rentguidelinesboard/resources/succession-rights.page

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/12/19 at 6:21pm

OK, after rereading Part 1, I've answered my own question.

Eric did not live all his life in the apartment.  We are told he moved in only after his grandmother died.  And a couple of pages later Toby, ever admiring Eric's ass, asks how a Jewish boy from who grew up in Westchester can have such a nice ass.

My confusion probably sprung from conflating Eric's apartment with Margaret Schlegel's house.  Interestingly, while in Howards End Margaret grew up in the house she's losing and Ruth grew up at Howards End, and much is made of childhood homes, in The Inheritance Eric comes to his apt. and Walter to his house upstate as adults.

[jpbran]

Posted: 12/12/19 at 6:45pm

Seems like "rent control" has been long used to justify characters living in unrealistic settings... see: the girls' apartment on "Friends". haha