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Faye Dunaway Sued For Not Living In Her Rent-Stabilized UES Apartment
By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 3, 2011
Modified Aug 3, 2011
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By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 3, 2011
Modified Aug 3, 2011
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Owners of rent-stabilized buildings are always trying to investigate which tenants don't live there, hiring private detectives and taking them to court. But have any of the tenants been Oscar winners? The NY Times reports that Faye Dunaway, whose films include Bonnie & Clyde, Chinatown, and Network, is being sued by her landlord who "claims that Ms. Dunaway, who pays $1,048.72 a month for a one-bedroom walk-up apartment in a century-old tenement building on East 78th Street, does not actually live there, but rather lives in California."
The suit, which also names her son, Liam Dunaway O'Neill (he's a subtenant on the lease), has evidence that suggests the UES apartment isn't her primary home: Her voter and automobile registrations are associated with her home in West Hollywood, and there are also "three moving violations she received in California from May 2009 to December 2010." And her son Tweeted recently that he lives in LA. Rent-stabilized apartments are supposed to be the primary residences of tenants (who are also only supposed to have one, not multiple stabilized pads, unlike some). Market rents for a one-bedroom in the neighborhood are around $2,300.
The Times, which visited the apartment building and found a "F. Dunaway" sticker next to a buzzer, says, "Ms. Dunaway had problems in the past with her landlord, which filed a notice in 2009 in Civil Court in Manhattan for nonpayment of rent. That case appeared to have been resolved, and she signed a lease in April 2009 to remain in her apartment until July 31, 2011." Wire hangers seem to be the least of Dunaway's problems!
Tagged
faye dunaway
lawsuit
liam dunaway o'neill
real estate
rent stabilized apartment
upper east side
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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