But a personal right that if exercised creates a property right, is not itself a property right.50 The court in In re McCourt held that a surviving spouse’s privilege to elect against a deceased spouse’s will was not a “property right in esse, but only a property right in posse which springs into existence only if the statutory right is exercised under the conditions which create the right only as of the time of the exercise of the election.”51 The personal right of election, because it was not a “property right in esse,” was not property of the surviving spouse’s bankruptcy estate.52 The trustee in bankruptcy could not require the surviving spouse to exercise the right, even if exercising the right would allow the trustee to reach 49 E.g., 9 N.Y.C.R.R. § 2524.3 (listing wrongful acts of tenant that justify eviction) and § 2524.4 (listing grounds for refusal to renew lease, including recovery of possession for owner’s personal use and occupancy).

If a tenant is in occupancy and has not committed misconduct such as nonpayment of rent, the landlord must offer a renewal rent-stabilized lease. See 9 N.Y.C.R.R. §§ 2524.3, 2524.4; N.Y.C Admin.