Two Associates v. Brown

Two Associates v. Brown
CourtNew York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Full case name Two Associates, Appellant-Respondent, v. Michael Brown, Respondent-Appellant, and New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, Respondent
DecidedApril 9, 1987
Citation127 AD 2d 173, 70 N.Y.2d 792
Case history
Appealed fromNew York Supreme Court
Case opinions
ConcurrenceP. J. Murray, Kassal, Ellerin, J.J. Wallace

Two Associates v. Brown was a New York Supreme Court housing rights case concerning whether being in a same-sex life partner relationship with a tenant was sufficient to renew an apartment lease even if the only named tenant was deceased. After his partner Robert Hayes died of AIDS, Michael Brown was threatened with eviction from their apartment in Chelsea, Manhattan because only Hayes' name was on the lease. After initially staying his eviction to March 31, 1986, the court overturned his eviction pursuant to New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal Emergency Operational Bulletin 85-1 and granted him a vacancy lease after 150 people protested the eviction. However, the Appellate Division upheld the eviction by striking down Bulletin 85-1 as overstepping the DHCR's authority, and with a subsequent appeal to the New York Court of Appeals denied, Brown was evicted from the apartment.