The former wife of Rolling Stone Mick Jagger has lived in the rent-stabilized apartment for some 20 years and argued that it was her primary residence and her landlord should be barred from evicting her.

A British citizen who was born in Nicaragua, Jagger is in the United States on a B-2 tourist visa.

Her lawyer, Ryan Goldstein, had argued that a mold problem in the apartment had made it unlivable and that she had stopped paying the $4,614 a month rent in 2003.

Goldstein was not immediately available for comment.

The landlord, Katz Park Avenue Corp, countered that Jagger was in the United States on a tourist visa and, as a result, is not eligible to maintain permanent residence.

The 3-2 decision by New York State Supreme Court's Appellate Division reversed a lower court's finding.

The decision, which noted that the environmental activist maintains a luxury apartment in London's Belgravia section, said Jagger will also have to pay back rent and other fees.

Tenants in rent-stabilized apartments are protected from sharp increases in rent. Once a tenant leaves a rent-stabilized apartment, the landlord is free to charge market rate.